The new company will be able to provide communications to Rosneft employees in the most remote corners of the country
Another communications operator has been created in Russia — RN-Svyaz. The presentation of the project took place in the company’s pavilion as part of the Information Technology Days at the “Russia” exhibition and forum at VDNKh on December 7. Its own corporate operator was launched with the help of the IT integrator Sibintek, an organization that is part of the Rosneft structure. The creators plan to provide cellular communications to almost 300 thousand employees of the oil company, no matter in whatever remote corners of Russia they work.
Author PJSC NK «Rosneft»
In the next few years, Rosneft plans to develop its own cellular operator RN-Svyaz to a full-MVNO model (abbreviation for mobile virtual network operator — “mobile virtual network operator”) — this is the name of the operating model of a virtual cellular operator, which provides subscribers with services under its own brand, but uses the technical base of other companies, that is, it does not have its own radio frequency resource and radio transmission infrastructure, but simply rents them using networks, switches, and sometimes billing from a cellular operator. At the presentation, the head of the Rosneft Information Technology Service, Yuri Popov, said that all operating Russian operators, primarily the Big Four (MTS, Beeline, Megafon and Tele2), will participate in the project.
“The unprecedented challenges that our country has faced have become drivers for the development of IT technologies,” said the top manager. “Now is the time for new solutions and opportunities. «Sibintek proves by its own example that the country has reliable and high-quality manufacturers of integrated IT solutions, software, software, as well as professionals who have exceptional expertise in the most complex areas.»
The launch of its own corporate operator, in addition to an unprecedented expansion of the service area, will provide exceptional protection against threats of unauthorized access and security of storage of data about mobile subscribers, and will also provide the opportunity to combine any communication systems of an oil company into one. In addition, mobile communications will be provided even in hard-to-reach regions of the country: in the Far North, on the high seas, on platforms and towers. The company claims that there is no such solution on the Russian market yet.
One of the company’s key digital projects is the launch of the Private LTE (pLTE) wireless data network. It has already been implemented at more than 20 company facilities, including the Bukhta Sever rotational camp at the Vostok Oil project. In the coming years, it is planned to scale the network to other production points.
An important advantage of this technology is that it is entirely based on Russian software and equipment. “pLTE technology is not only the development of IT in general, it is also the economics of specific projects into which this innovation is integrated,” said Denis Kriventsev, director of communications and basic infrastructure at Sibintek. “Solutions based on pLTE technology, in synergy with a network of regional data centers, open up new opportunities for delivering “heavy” volumes of information from drilling or oil refineries to places where it is processed, analyzed and presented results to decision-making centers.”
One of the options for using pLTE technology is organizing communications and overlay digital services in hard-to-reach places in the Far North. The use of technology has made it possible to abandon wired systems in permafrost conditions, flexibility in scaling and adding new services with minimal labor costs. The innovative rotational camp of the Bay of North oil terminal, which was presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2023 at the Eastern Economic Forum, was implemented using exactly this solution. In the future, in accordance with the company’s development strategy, each rotational housing complex will be built exactly according to this principle. The developed technology is resistant to interference, well protected, provides high quality communications indoors and outdoors, allows for the safe use of data transmission, video monitoring and surveillance, and remote control. Thanks to pLTE, you can record and transmit voice messages, large volumes of data, organize uninterrupted operation of industrial Push-To-Talk radio communications, services for monitoring personnel vital parameters, monitor the availability of personal protective equipment, and much more.
Rosneft is confident that the implementation of the pLTE system will improve the efficiency of production process management. “We prove by our own example that the country has all the resources to achieve success and results,” Popov emphasized.
The possibility of integrating existing and future industrial technological solutions, including those developed by Sibintek, into the new network is also provided. Among them are “Digital Plant”, “Digital Field” and the Industrial Internet System.