Sonnet (cellular operator). Sonnet network is developing Cellular communications Sonnet
I remember when in the TV game “What? Where? When?" The smartest connoisseurs were given the “Golden SONNET” (an eternally free telephone with the right to be passed on by inheritance), many connoisseurs were jealous. But even then, skeptics, looking at all this, muttered “nothing lasts forever” and “we’ll wait and see.” We lived and saw: yes, nothing lasts forever, and especially “SONNET” - even more so.
On December 11, the Sistema Telecom company announced its intention to soon sell its stake in Personal Communications CJSC, which provides communication services under the SONET brand. It was also decided to stop developing the infrastructure of the SONET network.
Answering questions from a correspondent for the Sotovik website, Sistema Telecom President Alexander Goncharuk called SONET an “incomprehensible” project and literally said the following: we will sell SONET! I won’t tell who, it’s not my secret. In the near future, as soon as we agree on the parameters of the deal. I think it's a matter of months. This will be an amount equal to all the costs of building the network and no more, since we consider this project unpromising."
The announcement of the sale of SONET itself did not come as a surprise to analysts, but few expected that the decision would be made so soon.
The SONET cellular network began operating in Moscow on August 1, 1998. SONET began to provide a new type of service for those times telephone communication— wireless subscriber access WLL (Wireless Local Loop), implemented on the basis of the latest digital technology with code division of CDMA channels. Having begun its development from remote areas of the capital, the network rapidly expanded and by the end of 1999 it covered the entire territory of Moscow and the immediate Moscow region.
Already in September 1999, when MTU-Inform invested $17 million in the development of the SONET fixed subscriber radio access (CDMA) network, Alexander Goncharuk reported that the company’s lack of a mobile communications license made it difficult to recoup these costs.
Then, two years ago, Sistema Telecom, together with MTU-Inform, studied options for getting out of the current situation. Apparently, the process was “accelerated” by the German shareholders of Sistema-Telecom.
Alexander Goncharuk himself admitted that the company had wanted to get rid of SONET for a long time: “Even when this project came into our ownership, it would have been possible to close it down, but at that moment we would have lost money. Instead, we preferred the scenario in which limited development should have ended with a sale. Although, in general, CDMA technology is promising and its development is being started, for example, by MCC and Delta-Telecom.
Despite all the “prospects” of CDMA, the fate of SONET may also befall other operators providing fixed subscriber radio access. According to Gazeta.Ru, in the future Sistema-Telecom may also get rid of another “unpromising” cellular enterprise - the Moscow Cellular Communications company, which provides services in the outdated analog standard NMT-450.
The Sonnet network is developing
Petr Chachin
Joint Stock Company “Personal Communications” is expanding the range of wireless services in Moscow and the Moscow region. subscriber access, implemented on the basis of digital technology with code division of channels CDMA. “The Sonet cellular network (this is a trademark of the Personal Communications company) in addition to the standard set of communication services - the ability to conduct intra-zonal, local, long-distance and international telephone conversations, use fax and modem with a guaranteed data transfer rate of 14.4 kbit/s - provides its clients with additional services, such as call forwarding, call waiting and transfer, three-way communication and call barring,” said the general director of this company, Mikhail Susov, at a press conference in Moscow.
Mikhail Susov, General Director
"Personal Communications" company
Fixed cellular communications provided by the Sonet network also have a number of advantages compared to cellular communications of other standards. Firstly, CDMA technology is characterized by efficient use of the radio spectrum and tens of times greater specific subscriber capacity, which can have a positive impact on tariff policy. Secondly, CDMA eliminates the possibility of unauthorized access and eavesdropping, and also provides better noise immunity. Thirdly, CDMA technology is characterized by low radio transmitter power, which determines its relative safety for the human body. In addition, it is very important that Sonet will use the powerful transport and telephone networks of the founder of the Personal Communications company, the MTU-Inform company.
Construction cellular network“Sonnet” was deployed primarily in remote areas of the capital, where the problem of telephone installation is especially acute. Commercial operation began in August (see PC Week/RE, No. 36/98, p. 21). Currently, 14 base stations (BS) have been introduced and about a thousand subscribers are served. There are about 20 more BS at various stages of readiness, which will be able to serve a significant part of the city. It is expected that by the end of next year the network will cover the entire territory of Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region and will provide communications to about 40 thousand subscribers.
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Cellular network SONET- trademark Russian company"Personal Communications" (registered with the Moscow Registration Chamber on November 21, 1995), under which it provided services mobile communications in the IS-95 standard (CDMA technology) in the frequency range of 800 MHz.
As a cellular operator, Personal Communications OJSC began its activities on August 17, 1998. They specialized primarily in relatively inexpensive unlimited mobile communications. The general director was Mikhail Valerievich Susov. The parent company is MTU-Inform (a subsidiary of AFK Sistema). The number of subscribers when the network was closed was about 100,000. Subscribers were provided with new telephone sets, as well as telephone numbers that changed during the transition.
The company received licenses to provide radiotelephone communication services in Moscow and the Moscow region (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 17454), Vladimirskaya (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8956), Tverskaya (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8959), Yaroslavl (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8960) and Tula (License of the State Committee for Communications No. 8960) 9827) areas.
In 1998, a network based on Qualcomm network equipment was put into operation. With the rapid growth in the number of subscribers, problems arose with network capacity. In 1999 a decision was made to replace the existing network infrastructure. During 2000 The SONET cellular network has carried out a full-scale replacement of the network infrastructure and installed the latest generation network equipment produced by the world's leading supplier "Lucent Technologies". At the end of 2000 and the first quarter of 2001, networks were put into operation in the Vladimir, Tver, Yaroslavl and Tula regions.
From the very beginning, the company did not adhere to the standard division of the user audience by solvency, age, etc. levels, but was based on the volume of customer needs for communication services. SONET cellular network is the first operator to offer its users unlimited tariff plans, aimed at multi-talking subscribers. In 2001, per-second tariff plans were introduced, which are of interest to subscribers who use the phone for a small number of conversations.
The operator's network was closed in 2004. The reason was the refusal of the state. regulator in extending the license for the frequency range under the pretext of freeing up the frequency in the region of 800 MHz for development digital television(on currently- 2017 - DVB-T2 frequencies are used for digital television broadcasting in Moscow). The operator was a sponsor of the intellectual game for some time.
Began its activities on August 17, 1998 and completed in 2004. He specialized primarily in relatively inexpensive unlimited mobile communications. The general director was Mikhail Valerievich Susov. The parent company is AFK Sistema. The number of subscribers when the network was closed was about 100,000. Subscribers were provided with new telephone sets, as well as telephone numbers that changed during the transition.
As of May 1, 2005, 92.5% of the shares belonged to Sky Link CJSC, 7.5% to Qualcomm Inc.
In March 2008, the board of directors of Sky Link decided to reorganize Sonet CJSC in the form of a merger with Sky Link CJSC.
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Excerpt characterizing the Sonnet (cellular operator)
– Surely you will command it yourself? – said Julie, slyly and mockingly exchanging glances with the militiaman.The militiaman in the presence of Pierre was no longer so caustique, and his face expressed bewilderment at what Julie’s smile meant. Despite his absent-mindedness and good nature, Pierre’s personality immediately stopped all attempts at ridicule in his presence.
“No,” Pierre answered laughing, looking around his large, fat body. “It’s too easy for the French to hit me, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to get on the horse...
Among the people being selected for the subject of conversation, Julie's company ended up with the Rostovs.
“They say their affairs are very bad,” said Julie. - And he is so stupid - the count himself. The Razumovskys wanted to buy his house and his property near Moscow, and all this drags on. He is treasured.
“No, it seems that the sale will take place one of these days,” someone said. – Although now it’s crazy to buy anything in Moscow.
- From what? – said Julie. – Do you really think that there is a danger for Moscow?
- Why are you going?
- I? That's strange. I’m going because... well, because everyone is going, and then I’m not Joan of Arc or an Amazon.
- Well, yes, yes, give me some more rags.
“If he manages to get things done, he can pay off all his debts,” the militiaman continued about Rostov.
- A good old man, but very pauvre sire [bad]. And why do they live here for so long? They had long wanted to go to the village. Does Natalie seem to be well now? – Julie asked Pierre, smiling slyly.
“They are expecting a younger son,” said Pierre. “He joined Obolensky’s Cossacks and went to Bila Tserkva. A regiment is being formed there. And now they transferred him to my regiment and are waiting for him every day. The Count has long wanted to go, but the Countess will never agree to leave Moscow until her son arrives.
“I saw them the other day at the Arkharovs’. Natalie looked prettier and cheerful again. She sang one romance. How easy it is for some people!
-What's going on? – Pierre asked displeasedly. Julie smiled.
“You know, Count, that knights like you only exist in the novels of Madame Suza.”
- Which knight? From what? – Pierre asked, blushing.
- Well, come on, dear Count, c "est la fable de tout Moscou. Je vous admire, ma parole d" honneur. [all of Moscow knows this. Really, I'm surprised at you.]
The idea of creating a?Sonnet? arose from the general director of the Moscow alternative operator? MTU-Inform? Mikhail Aizman. ?At the WorldTelecom-95 exhibition he became very interested in the recently emerging CDMA technology. Then we agreed with the shareholders of MTU-Inform, ? says Alexander Sandomirsky, at that time the first deputy general director of MTU-Inform.
The Russian cellular communications market in 1995 was just emerging. Less than 0.1% of Russians used mobile communications. ? It was a creative time, operators were constantly coming up with something, and almost all cellular communication standards were represented in our country: AMPS, NMT-450, GSM?, ? recalls the first deputy general director of ?Sistema Telecom? Alexander Vronets.
Compared to them, the standard that interested Eisman was very young; the first CDMA network in the world appeared in 1995, when the GSM standard was already popular. The International Telecommunication Union recommended GSM and NMT standards for development in Europe. And CDMA developed primarily in Southeast Asia and America: for example, the American operator Verizon Wireless uses this standard, serving 43.8 million subscribers today and bringing in 24.4 billion USD per year. Many experts believed that CDMA was more promising in many respects? sound quality, level of protection against eavesdropping, etc.
In November 1995, according to the website?Sonnet?,?MTU-Inform? founded the company OJSC?Personal Communications? (?PeKom?), which was supposed to build a CDMA network. As follows from the GDR prospectus of AFK Sistema, among the founders of PeKom? were top managers of the main shareholder? MTU-Inform? ? Moscow city telephone network. The then general director of MGTS Vladimir Lagutin and his deputies Semyon Rabovsky and Said Alimbekov in total received more than 20% of PeKom.
In 1997, ?PeKom? received a license to provide radiotelephone communication services in the CDMA standard at 800 MHz frequencies. The license extended to the Moscow, Yaroslavl, Tver, Vladimir and Tula regions. In Moscow? Sonnet? ? from the words?cell phone? and?network? ? English Net? earned it within a year.
Bad start
Luck has turned away from the ?Sonnet? immediately after his birth. The network went live on August 1, 1998, 17 days before the crisis. ? Is this why we stalled for several months? there were simply no clients?, ? says the technical director, and later the general director of ?Sonnet? Vladimir Morozyuk.
In dire need of funds? Sonnet? turned to subscribers for help. Immediately after the 1998 crisis, the company launched a tariff? Anti-crisis? with an impressive initial payment (about 2500 USD), after paying which the subscriber could talk for the rest of his life without restrictions within the Moscow region for 25 USD per month. Competitors? Sonnet? There were no such tariff plans at that time. ? Investments in Anti-Crisis paid for themselves in less than a year?, ? says the senior partner of the company?Creditconsulting? Yuri Istomin.
In total, according to the former general director of the company, Mikhail Susov, 2000-3000 subscribers connected to the tariff, and the company received about 5 MUSD for the construction of the network. And by the summer of 1999, the company announced that it had managed to gain 10,000 subscribers. According to ACM-Consulting, another non-GSM operator, Moscow Cellular Communications, already had 87,000 by that time. MTS in Moscow by that time already had 275,000 subscribers, VimpelCom? ? 198,000.
Wrong size
The growth in the number of subscribers has turned into ?Sonnet? into the problem. The network was originally built on equipment from the American company Qualcomm? developer of CDMA technology. ?PeKom? built the network on debt? a trade credit of 15 MUSD was provided by Qualcomm itself. Repay this loan?PeKom? started in 1999? from his own funds received from the first subscribers, and, according to Susov, paid most of it. But a year after the launch, it became clear that the capacity of Qualcomm equipment did not allow it to serve more than 10,000 subscribers.
?This is a disaster, because the demand for Sonnet's services is high?, ? Susov said at one of the press conferences. ?PeKom? announced new tender. By December 2000, a network was built at a cost of 24 MUSD using equipment from Lucent Technologies (also under a trade credit scheme). ?PeKom? reported that he had fully paid off this loan. Total investment in the network?Sonnet? amounted, according to former company executives, to 50 MUSD.
Despite the fact that in 1999 ?PeKomu? it was necessary to completely update the equipment, in 2001 the company showed its first profit (for more details, see the table). ? It was a very stable, profitable business?, ? says Mikhail Susov. But the profitability of the business was constantly supported by its main shareholder, MTU-Inform. It was the main supplier of telecommunications capacity ( mobile traffic) for?Sonnet?. This item accounts for about 20% of the operating expenses of cellular companies. "MTU-Inform", according to Susov's recollections, provided its services on credit, without insisting on immediate return. As can be seen from the company's balance sheet, in 1998 ?PeKom? owed related structures 152 million rubles, in 1999? 60 million rubles in 2000? 364 million rubles in 2001? RUB 206 million
Helped? MTU-Inform? not only to the “Sonnet”, but also to its individual owners. As follows from the prospectus for the GDR issue of AFK Sistema, in July and August 2000 Lagutin, Rabovsky and Alimbekov sold their shares in PeKom. companies?MTU-Inform? (14%) and?MTU-Intel? (7%) for 9.17 MUSD. As a result, the holding company Sistema-Telecom, which by that time included MTU-Inform? and?MTU-Intel?, became the owner of more than 80% of the shares of?PeCom?. ?For the development of Sonnet, investments were needed, but which investors were private individuals?? ? explains the deputy general director of ?Systems Telecom? Alexander Vronets shareholders' decision?Sonnet?. Former top manager of one of the?subsidiaries? ?Systems? claims that Lagutin, Rabovsky and Alimbekov at one time bought out shares in the authorized capital for symbolic amounts. Founders?Sonnet? didn’t talk to Vedomosti? about this theme.
Under permanent ban
Adherence to a standard not officially recognized in Russia played with the ?Sonnet? a cruel joke. On the eve of the network launch, in June 1998, the State Communications Committee suddenly changed the license conditions for CDMA-800? now it was written in them that the operators provide “radio access services?”. From now on?PeKom? and other operators could only deal with fixed-line communications.
As a result, several dozen CDMA-800 operators, including Sonet, formally ceased to be mobile. ? The situation turned out to be absurd: it’s as if a person bought a plane, but he was only allowed to use it in the city as a taxi?, ? recalls Susov. According to the new procedure, operators were required to enter into contracts for subscriber services at a specific address. People took such phones out of the house at their own peril and risk: a policeman who checked the permission of the phone could well confiscate it. But it was impossible to accuse the operator of illegal activities, says Susov.
In 1999, the State Communications Committee issued another order according to which only CDMA-800 fixed telephone sets could be imported into Russia. According to Susov, mobile handsets came to Russia almost exclusively as “gray” ones. ways. In April 2000, a new misfortune: the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF) decided by 2010 to allocate frequencies in the 800 MHz range to digital television.
Subsequently, the?Sonnet? More and more problems arose with the Ministry of Communications. In October and November 2002, Gossvyaznadzor suspended the license of ?PeKoma? for several days. for non-compliance with?fixedness?. ? Have we never had an assistant in the person of a communications regulator?, ? Susov complains. These problems hit the operator's well-being painfully: according to Susov, banks refused? Sonnet? in loans, citing the fact that the company is constantly under threat of closure.
At one of the press conferences, Minister of Communications Leonid Reiman explained the reason for his dislike for the CDMA-800 standard in general and for? Sonnet? in particular: ?The standard is good? the range is bad?. The Ministry of Communications considered CDMA-800 as an alternative to classic wired telephone communications in hard-to-reach places, said the then chairman of the State Committee for Communications, Alexander Krupnov. ? We never seriously considered CDMA networks in the 800 band, since due to the small frequency band they could not have a large subscriber base?, ? explains Krupnov.
Sonnet? haven't come to terms with the loss of his?mobility? and tried to cancel the resolution of the Ministry of Communications through the Antimonopoly Ministry. In 2002, the MAP recognized the decision of the SCRF to close networks in the 800 band as contrary to the law on competition? and ordered the commission to eliminate the violations. Then? Sonnet? managed to achieve that the Moscow Arbitration Court invalidated the request of the Ministry of Communications to? fix? companies. And in December 2002, the Ministry of Communications changed its opinion on the CDMA standard. Reiman signed an order on the federal cellular mobile communications network of the IMT-MC-450 standard in the 450 MHz frequency range, which recognized CDMA as a federal standard, but in the 450 MHz range. On its basis, outdated NMT-450 networks should be modernized.
Skynet is more important
In May 2003, ?Sistema Telecom? announced further development of ?Sonnet? unpromising and fired the then general director of the company, Vladimir Morozyuk. ? This decision was on the verge of the unexpected?, ? admits Morozyuk. But the first deputy general director of ?Systems Telecom? Alexander Vronets calls the liquidation of ?Sonnet? ?conscious decision? ? in the 800 MHz range, the development of CDMA was considered unpromising. The bet was made on the company “Sky Link”, to which subscribers of “Sonnet” were asked to switch. ?Sky Link? ? is this some kind of umbrella under which we have gathered NMT and CDMA operators?, ? Vronets explains.
Having decided to?turn off? ?Sonnet?, ?System? wrote off 19.3 MUSD as losses. The losses, as stated in the AFK reports, were attributable to goodwill ?PeKoma? ? reputation, brand, etc. In the summer of 2004, ?System? appointed CEO of ?Sky Link? and ?PeKoma? Raisa Rozinov. At the same time, it was announced that from mid-September 2004 new connections would be stopped and a program would begin to transfer 80,000 Sonetov subscribers to the Sky Link network. Last day of work?Sonnet? became March 28, 2005.
?Merger with Sky Link was the best development option for Sonet?, ? says Andrey Beskorovainy, deputy head of the Federal Communications Agency. ? Sonnet initially had the wrong composition of shareholders, they forgot to include the “right” people, hence the operator’s troubles?, ? says Gennady Kiryushin, general director and co-owner of the Volga region operator SMARTS. At the same time, in his opinion, the operator’s business model was successful. ? It really was a very effective business that brought good financial returns?, ? says Vronets.
Alfa Bank analyst Svetlana Sukhanova believes that? Sonnet? was quite a controversial project. In her opinion, if you look at its financial efficiency, the company can hardly be called successful: accumulated investments exceeded accumulated EBITDA for 1999-2003. On the other hand, adds Sukhanova, the?Sonnet? had the most loyal subscribers, and the features of CDMA-800 technology made it possible to offer unlimited plans, while practically not overloading the network. Thus, the company constantly provided its shareholders with a stable financial flow.
?By the time of its closure, Sonnet was profitable, but due to administrative restrictions imposed on CDMA-800, it had no prospects for independent development?, ? says the CEO of ?Systems Telecom? Vladimir Lagutin. According to him, the ?System? could not simultaneously develop three cellular operators of different standards, which is why the decision was made to join ?PeCom? in ?Sky Link?. Although the operating activities of ?PeKoma? did not recoup all investments of the main shareholder, taking into account the valuation of the company when contributing to the authorized capital? Sky Link? The project turned out to be profitable, notes Lagutin.
Although? Sky Link? and ?Sonnet? work in the same standard, equipment?Sonnet? will have to be dismantled, these are the features of the technology. However? Sky Link? subscribers can get ?Sonnet?. They were not only the most highly profitable on the Moscow market (one user, according to Sonet?, brought in about 70 USD monthly), but also the most loyal. In 2001, according to Susov, the subscriber churn rate of Sonet? was half that of GSM operators. ?Sonnet? constantly introduced interesting tariff plans, launched new services and very carefully monitored subscriber services. ?Otherwise our customers wouldn't be so loyal?, ? Vronets explains.
How to save a subscriber
Now facing the successor?Sonnet? ? ?Sky Link? The task is to get subscribers of ?Sonnet?. But some of them greeted the news of the network's closure with hostility. ? It turns out that we should just throw away our cell phones, for which we once paid a lot of money, and buy “Skylink” handsets?? ? the subscriber is perplexed? Sonnet? Sergey Krakhmalov. Yuri Istomin before closing?Sonnet? transferred to ?Sky Link?, but abandoned it? not satisfied with the quality: ? The connection was lost, often you couldn’t hear the interlocutor? As a result, he took an unlimited tariff for voice communication? Beeline? and plans to use ?Sky Link? only for mobile Internet.
Users blame the operator for long queues in the only office where translations from ?Sonnet? in “Sky Link”, and on the scant information about transition programs. The latter circumstance was actively used by scammers who began offering subscribers ?Sonnet? on Internet forums, buy contracts and phones from the outgoing operator for almost nothing. A special website was also created, which offered assistance to those who did not want to waste time in line to re-register from one network to another. For 2,800 rubles. The intermediaries took on all the troubles themselves.
?Perhaps not everything was perfect for us, but there were no precedents for closing such a large cellular network?, ? Rozinova believes. According to her, Sonet subscribers who switched to Sky Link will completely retain the numbers, tariff plans and services they used. Each subscriber who changed the network before February 28 was given a free Skylink? phone for 150 USD. Anyone who wanted to get a more expensive device had to pay the missing amount.
The situation with the quality of communication, according to Rozinova, is explained by the fact that throughput The networks are already at their limit. ?By May we will increase its capacity, and the situation will return to normal?, ? calms Rozinov. Besides, technical capabilities do not allow more than 30-35 people to be transferred from network to network at the same time, explains the head of Sky Link. According to Vladimir Lagutin from Sistema Telecom, already about 60,000 of the 90,000 subscribers of Sonnet? moved to ?Sky Link?. Until April 25, subscribers of ?Sonnet? will be able to connect to?Sky Link? on preferential terms. Total for?Sky Link? There are now more than 90,000 subscribers in the Moscow region.
