Project to eliminate the digital divide. Digital inequality: how populated areas of the North Caucasus are connected to the Internet. Creating technology for communities

Rostelecom will no longer invest its own funds in a project to eliminate the digital divide (DDI), company president Sergei Kalugin said during a telephone conference with investors, TASS reports.

According to him, according to the contract, in 2016 the company should receive more than 14 billion rubles for this project, but expects that the amount could be significantly reduced by billions of rubles as part of the budget sequestration.

“We will spend exactly as much money as we receive, and we will not reach into our own pockets,” Kalugin said.

Website, in March, the head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications Nikolai Nikiforov reported that the Universal Communication Service Fund (UCS), from which, among other things, the project for eliminating the digital divide is financed, will receive a shortfall of 6.9 billion rubles in 2016.

The UUS fund is formed through contributions from all operators of the Russian Federation at 1.2% of revenue. First, money from the fund goes to the federal budget, after which it is distributed to the performer from there, i.e. Rostelecom (in accordance with the order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 437-r dated March 26, 2014, Rostelecom was appointed a single federal universal service operator). The law on communications states that the reserve funds are fully spent exclusively for the purposes provided for by law - now these are universal communication services, which include the UCN project - the construction of fiber optic networks in small settlements.

Now Rostelecom independently compensates, including through money from the National Welfare Fund, which it takes at interest.

Bridging the digital divide

The task of eliminating the digital divide between urban and rural residents was set in the Federal Law (FL) “On Communications”. On February 3, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law No. 9 “On Amendments to the federal law“On Communications”, which provides for the creation of access points in settlements with a population of 250 to 500 people and providing the population with access to the Internet at a speed of at least 10 Mbit/s.

On May 13, 2014, a ten-year contract for the provision of management services was signed with Rostelecom. In September 2014, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia and Rostelecom signed the first trilateral cooperation agreement with Vologda region. Such agreements include an exact list of all settlements in specific constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where access points should be installed as part of a project to eliminate the digital divide. The first such Internet access point was installed on February 17, 2015 in the village of Mikhailovskoye, Kostroma Region.

The project implementation cost is planned to be 160 billion rubles over 10 years. In 2014-2015 Rostelecom received 12.2 billion rubles in funding from the federal budget. In addition, a loan of 10.1 billion rubles was raised.

Rostelecom has begun implementing a program to eliminate the digital divide in rural areas. Despite the fact that the program is designed for 10 years, the telecommunications company intends to complete it ahead of schedule

The Federal Project for Eliminating the Digital Divide (EDD) was launched last year and is designed for 10 years. However, Rostelecom has assumed increased obligations and will fully implement the project in 2018. Thus, in the short term, the company’s efforts will be directed not only to cities with a population of one million and one hundred thousand, but also to the construction of networks in rural areas with a population of 250–500 people, including remote ones.

Cities have launched digital divide initiatives to address access not only to the Internet, but also to the rich and valuable data and conversations that can be found online.

According to statistics on the City of Chicago website, only thirty-nine percent of Chicago residents have broadband Internet connections.

Those without tend to be low-income families, minorities, the disabled and the elderly, representing a broad cross-section of the city's population that cannot access important information and resources. One of the key projects of this initiative was the creation and launch of neighborhood web portals accessible through public kiosks in each of the three communities - Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn and Englewood. The Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation was the lead agent for three neighborhoods—Auburn-Gresham, Chicago Lawn and Englewood—that joined forces to submit the grant money, along with the low-income neighborhoods of Humboldt Park and Pilsen.

Important mission

The ultimate goal of this initiative is to promote technology literacy among underserved communities. Their programs include the Computer Exchange program to distribute refurbished computers to individuals and families through a home computer workshop. As participants learn new computer and software skills, they can take the computer home with them to further their technical education.

“I am confident that the company is fully prepared to carry out this task - we have experience in implementing large-scale government projects - the 2012 Web elections, the Sochi Olympics, the annual direct line with the President of the Russian Federation, the creation of public service infrastructure. We also have at our disposal the most extensive and most powerful infrastructure in the country and the best specialists,” said the vice-president - director of the macro-regional branch “Siberia” Nikolay Zenin.

Creating technology for communities

It remains to be seen whether a national initiative focused on mobile app innovation will provide access to data and discussions to members of underserved communities across the country. However, this perhaps suggests that the initiative's focus is on mobile access rather than broadband. With the rapid adoption of mobile and mobile devices to access information, this could mean a shift in digital divide initiatives away from expensive broadband infrastructures and more towards the use of handheld and hand-held devices.

Siberian realities

In Siberia, Rostelecom will have to build 1,963 access points in various rural settlements (Table No. 1). In total, within the framework of the project “eliminating the digital divide” in small settlements In the Siberian Federal District, 50 thousand km of fiber-optic communication lines will be laid. At the same time, Rostelecom notes that the work will affect many more settlements and residents of the country than is stated in the document on the implementation of the UCN program. The construction of fiber-optic lines will be carried out in such a way that high-speed Internet will definitely appear in all adjacent cities, towns and villages. “By the end of this year, almost 200 access points will be put into commercial operation in sparsely populated areas of the Siberian Federal District. Next year, 2016, according to our plans, more than 500 Internet access points will operate in Siberia,” explained Nikolai Zenin.

What innovations are improving your community?

Do you know of a promising startup or technology that deserves to be a part of? It delivers more than dedicated EVs; it provides mobility services inside and outside the vehicle. The Internet, on the one hand, says that it is about democratization, networking and knowledge. On the other hand, it is argued that the Internet strengthens the powerful, leads to isolation and makes people stupid. This also applies to the digital fission thesis.

It is not only access that is decisive, but also the type of use

This means that, in particular, higher education and higher incomes favored beneficial use of the Internet, so the spread of the Internet is associated with growing social inequality. However, there are also clear gaps emerging here: it is the younger, educated, income-earning people who are gaining access to the Internet. In addition, the quarter of Germans who are now among mobile Internet users differs from the socio-demographics, as noted by those who do not use the Internet on the road.

The first access point in Siberia was introduced on October 10 in the Altai Territory - in the village of Rasskazikha (Pervomaisky district). Head of Information Technology and Communications Department Altai Territory Evgeniy Pozderin, present at the gala event dedicated to the opening of the first access point, noted that the emergence of the Internet in the outback is an advantage not only for residents, but also for the economy of the region. “Such access points can also provide an economic effect. There is evidence that an increase in Internet availability by 3% results in an increase in economic efficiency by 1%, says Evgeniy Pozderin. “If we implement the program in full, it will certainly have a positive impact on the economy of the region.”

However, not only technological access to the Internet, but also the way the Internet is used is highly dependent on socioeconomic status: a state in which people use the Internet in general at a higher temporal extent, have greater convenience, and are more likely to be political, scientific, health-related information, that is, those materials that are believed to have a beneficial effect.

However, the extent to which these observed differences in Internet use actually have measurable effects on social participation and the distribution of socially valued resources is questionable. In this sense, so-called digital divide research requires the proliferation of opportunities for participation, information, money or social capital as a result of Internet accessibility. For example, empirical work has examined the effects of Internet use on labor market integration, political information, civic participation, and income levels.

The access point itself is a reinforced concrete support several meters high, on which a climate control cabinet and the necessary equipment are mounted: an Ethernet switch, a Wi-Fi router and antennas that provide circular coverage of the access zone within a radius of 100 meters. To implement the project to eliminate the digital divide, Rostelecom primarily uses fiber-optic cables and domestically produced equipment. “Of course, the components for their production are partially imported, which makes the equipment more expensive, but Rostelecom purchases all equipment and materials exclusively on a competitive basis, which restrains price increases,” explains Nikolai Zenin.

For all the variety and heterogeneity of research in the field of digital divide, their results must be reduced to a simplified denominator: in general, it is clear that those who are already in a privileged social position are more dependent on the availability of new environmental benefits. That is, a picture of self-reinforcing inequality occurs. Dutch sociologist Jan van Dijk describes the social consequences of unequal Internet use as the "matte effect": "For those who have, will be given, and it will have completeness."

Matthew's post-morality - "he who does not have what he has will be accepted" - cannot, however, be applied to the Internet as a whole. Against, positive effect It is also observed among poorly configured Internet users, but on a relatively weak scale.

The project to eliminate the digital divide is currently under construction according to schedule. Each region of the Siberian Federal District has its own difficulties in implementing the project, primarily due to the inaccessibility of populated areas. “It’s difficult to single out any particular region, because almost all of them have hard-to-reach areas, but there are more of them in the Altai Mountains, in the mountainous part of Khakassia and Tuva, as well as in the Far North,” says Nikolai Zenin. - Even in Novosibirsk region There are villages that can only be reached during the spring and autumn thaw. It is there that settlements with a population of 250–500 people are most often located, but we solve all difficulties as they arise; every problem has a solution.”

Fluid boundaries, abstract gray

Thus, we can say that inequality of knowledge, participation in political life or economic participation, on the one hand, continues or even increases as a result of the availability of the Internet. These differences, however, must be established at a higher level, which can be characterized as the so-called “drive wheel” effect: old relations of inequality are reproduced at higher levels. high level. The fact that people with lower incomes, formally lower levels of education, or older ages can often benefit from Internet accessibility, and that the Internet certainly has cross-layered negative effects, does not in any way contradict the digital divide thesis.

The macro-regional branch "Siberia" of PJSC Rostelecom was created on the basis of OJSC Sibir-telecom, which underwent a reorganization procedure together with other interregional communications companies OJSC Svyazinvest and the company OJSC Dagsvyazinform by merging with PJSC Rostelecom.

The macro-regional branch “Siberia” is the second largest macro-region in area after the “Far East”. Its territory of presence coincides with the borders of the Siberian federal district, which includes 12 constituent entities of the Russian Federation: the total length of trunk and intrazonal communication lines in Siberia is almost 33,700 km, of which about 23 thousand kilometers are intrazonal fiber optic lines.

Therefore, the thesis does not claim that everything is either black or white. Rather, it is based on a whole series of shades of gray. She is particularly interested in issues related to the digital divide, the information and knowledge society, and new media. Among other things, she published the book Digital Inequalities, New Technologies and Old Inequalities in the Information and Knowledge Society. We are here to introduce you to our Digital Diversity: Bridging the Digital Divide project and some will be surprised; What is this? The digital divide is the division between people who regularly use new technologies and those who do not have access to them, or do but do not know how to use them.

The company's share in the telecommunications services market is more than 20%. The share in the fixed-line communications market is 84%, in the market for Internet access and data transmission services - 33%.

The Macro-regional branch “Siberia” includes eight regional branches: Altai, Buryat, Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk branches.

We're going to the younger ones. Why you? On the other hand, this is an opportunity to demonstrate to your elders that they also have many things to teach, despite their age, and that this time, what they often think is crazy and do not understand, has given you the opportunity to grow up surrounded by new things. , present and future technology resources to help them personally and professionally.

They will also be able to learn new uses of the Internet or improve others they already know. What is participation? Over the course of 6 weeks, through 3 hours of weekly meeting, we will develop and plan the course content and how it will be delivered. You will become the real heroes of the project, since this will be the stage in which they will be prepared to be teachers of the same, and between all of us we will choose the content that we want to convey and the form. Also at this stage they will be able to dump all the events they have experienced in the blog to find out their learning, interests and anecdotes at this stage as in the next one.

Currently, the federal project “Eliminating the Digital Divide” is being implemented on the territory of the Russian Federation. It provides for the construction of fiber-optic communication lines and the installation of public access points to the Internet using Wi-Fi technology in settlements with a population of 250 to 500 people. In our region, the project includes 394 settlements with different implementation periods. The estimated completion date for the project is the end of 2018.

In this article we will tell you what the implementation of the project gives residents, how to use a public access point to the Internet, what sites you can visit and how much it costs, what you need to do to connect your household to communication services.

How to use the hotspot

So, your locality already has a Wi-Fi access point. The reception radius of the access point signal is no more than 100 meters, so you need to get as close as possible to the place where the equipment is fixed. You can access the Internet using a phone, laptop or tablet with data transfer function using Wi-Fi technology.

When you turn on Wi-Fi, the search for networks will give the following results: RTOpen, RTFree, RTWiFi. The RTOpen network is designed to register a user in a personal account (access is free), for this you will need to indicate the mobile phone number of a Russian telecom operator. Connect to RTOpen - you will automatically be taken to the website https://lk.rt.ru, register. After this, you will have access to the RTFree network. Connect to this network and you can visit for free more than 2000 sites approved by the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, including the government services portal, sites of the Pension Fund of Russia and all government bodies.

By topping up the balance of your personal account in your Personal Account, you can connect to the RTWiFi network and enjoy unlimited access to the Internet at speeds of up to 10 Mbit/s (access to any sites). This access is paid, but on preferential terms. You will be asked to choose a tariff: “Monthly” (45 rubles per month) or “Daily” (1.5 rubles per day). If you have any difficulties or questions, call the hotline 8 800 301 00 35 (free call).

The list of settlements included in the program and the addresses of access points can be found on the website www.rt.ru in the “Communication Services/Internet/Wi-Fi” section.

How to connect the Internet in your home

You can connect fast Internet in your home using wired technology. Please note that payment for work and materials required to lay a line from the access point of Rostelecom PJSC to your home produced at your expense .

To connect a household to communication services, you must submit an Application for connecting the service to the responsible employee of the rural settlement, which includes the locality where you live.

You are given a package of documents for organizing a fiber-optic communication line. The package of documents is issued free of charge.

04/27/2017, Thu, 10:23, Moscow time , Text: Igor Korolev

The Accounts Chamber warned Rostelecom about the possible administrative responsibility for too active implementation of the project to eliminate the “digital divide”: the company is building more facilities than it is paid for from the federal budget.

The Accounts Chamber warns

Auditor of the Accounts Chamber Vera Chistova at the annual board meeting of the Federal Communications Agency (Rossvyaz), reported a violation of the Law “On the Budget” by the agency and the operator Rostelecom. It's about on the contract for the provision of universal communication services, which Rossvyaz concluded with Rostelecom in 2014 for a period of 10 years.

According to the contract, Rostelecom undertakes to support the operation of universal payphones and public Internet access points (PKD) throughout the country. Rostelecom must also implement an ambitious program to eliminate the “digital divide” - by 2020, in all settlements with a population of 250 to 500 people, backbone fiber-optic cables with a speed of at least 10 Mbit/s (that is, install in such settlements access point points).

The state pledged to compensate Rostelecom for losses from the provision of universal services. The amount of the entire contract is up to 163 billion rubles. For this purpose, Rossvyaz maintains a Universal Service Reserve, into which it collects 1.2% of their revenue from all telecom operators. Every year the Reserve is replenished by approximately 15 billion rubles.

However, not all funds collected in the Reserve are allocated to universal services in the Federal Budget. As a result, the project to eliminate the “digital divide” faced underfunding, and Rossvyaz acquired a billion dollar debt to Rostelecom (at the end of 2014 it amounted to 10.9 billion rubles).

Underfunding is not a reason to break the law

Chistova admits that the problem of underfunding the project exists. Nevertheless, the Law “On the Budget” must be implemented, she adds. Rostelecom performs work on large amounts than provided for by budget limits. "This threatens administrative punishment, at best, and maybe more serious consequences", the auditor warned.

The Accounts Chamber is unhappy that in 2016 Rostelecom eliminated the “digital divide”
by 6 billion rubles. more actively than the budget compensated him

Head of Rossvyaz Oleg Dukhovnitsky I agree with the auditors' criticism. “Of course, it’s good when we paid Rostelecom 10 rubles, and he completed work for 12 rubles,” said Dukhovnitsky. - However, the Accounts Chamber warned us that we cannot joke like that, and these additional two rubles should be at the expense of Rostelecom. The recently appointed president of Rostelecom, who was present at the board Mikhail Oseevsky promised to correct contracts with Rossvyaz so that such a situation would not happen again.

The Rostelecom press service stated that this situation arose due to underfunding of the project in 2016. Work on installing access points began in advance, and no one knew that less funds would be received from the Federal budget than planned.

Progress on the Digital Divide Project

In 2016, instead of the originally planned 14.9 billion rubles in the Federal Budget. Only 8.9 billion rubles were allocated for universal communication services. The three-year budget, adopted at the end of 2016, provides for large allocations for universal services: in 2017 - 11.9 billion rubles, in 2018 - 12.4 billion rubles, in 2019 - 13.7 billion rub.

As part of the implementation of the project to eliminate the digital divide, 1.6 thousand access points were built in 2015 against a plan of 1.1 thousand, in 2016 - 3.9 thousand (corresponding to the plan). Rostelecom also laid 34 thousand km of fiber-optic communication lines.

KASPIYSK /Dagestan/, September 13. /TASS/. All cities and villages of the regions North Caucasus by the end of 2018, they will have access to the Internet, which corresponds to the program for the development of the digital economy and the elimination of digital inequality created on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Digital Economy program is designed until 2024, and one of its indicators is to provide 97% of the country’s households with broadband Internet access (100 Mbit/s).

The topic of eliminating digital inequality and implementing the Digital Economy program became one of the main topics at the Russian Internet forum “RIF. Caucasus 2017”, which takes place from September 13 to 14 in the Dagestan city of Kaspiysk. TASS interviewed representatives of regional authorities and experts to find out how the problem of eliminating the digital divide is being solved in the regions of the North Caucasus, many areas of which are located in high mountains, and at what time Internet connections will become ubiquitous in the regions of the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD).

The state program “Digital Economy” was developed as part of the execution of instructions from the President of the Russian Federation. As noted on the government website, five basic and three applied directions for the development of the digital economy in Russia for the period until 2024 have been identified to manage the program. The basic areas include regulatory regulation, personnel and education, formation research competencies and technical backlogs, information infrastructure and information security. To applied - public administration, smart city and healthcare.

In particular, it is indicated that by this date 97% of households in the Russian Federation should have broadband Internet access (100 Mbit/s), in all major cities(1 million people or more), stable coverage of the 5G network and higher must be ensured, and the share of internal network traffic of the Russian segment of the Internet routed through foreign servers must be 5%.

"In 2018, according to the decree of the President of Russia, the share of citizens receiving services electronically should be 70%. In order for these figures to become a reality, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia is consistently carrying out a reform of universal communication services. Our task is to provide all settlements of the country , numbering 250-500 thousand people with Internet access points, and also create conditions for high-speed Internet to come to more inaccessible settlements,” the minister said in his welcoming address information technologies and communications of the Russian Federation Nikolay Nikiforov to participants of the forum “RIF. Caucasus 2017".

It is also noted that more than half of Russia’s regions have signed tripartite agreements to eliminate the digital divide. “Among them there are already subjects of the North Caucasus. I urge regional leaders to pay attention to the importance of this work for citizens and, as soon as possible, conduct an inventory of settlements where broadband access is needed,” the message says.

Stavropol farms on the web

In the Stavropol Territory, Rostelecom is implementing a three-year program to eliminate the digital divide. In 2015-2018, access points are planned to be created in 136 settlements. “Access to the Internet will be provided at a speed of at least 10 Mb/s. Initially, the cost of connecting to a universal communication service was 1.5 rubles per day, or 45 rubles per month, currently the solution President of PJSC Mikhail Oseevsky’s Rostelecom fee will be reset to zero,” the press service of the regional Ministry of Energy, Industry and Communications told TASS.

In the first two years of the program, residents of 30 settlements ranging from 250 to 500 residents received Internet access. In 2017, residents of another 71 villages, hamlets and villages will be able to access the Internet. According to the regional department, of this number, 30 access points are already in test mode.

In addition, by the end of 2018, it is planned to build fiber-optic communication lines (FOCL) to communication centers in another 142 settlements of the region with a population of 500 to 10 thousand people, in order to provide residents with broadband Internet access for more than high speeds. The implementation of these programs will make it possible to provide residents of the region with fixed broadband Internet access by the end of 2018 at the level of 98%, while in 2015 this figure was 38%.

“Residents of sparsely populated areas will have the opportunity to have a stable connection to the Internet and access not only to entertainment resources, but also to resources that are decisive social objectives, including access to the “State Services” portal, thanks to which they will have an equal opportunity with residents of large settlements to build a dialogue with state and local authorities, healthcare and educational institutions,” the ministry noted.

Internet users of the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic (KCR), according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the region, 55 settlements, where 70% of the population of the republic live, are provided with broadband Internet access via fiber-optic lines. In another 43 settlements of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the Internet is provided by telephone lines and the proper level of speed is not provided.

As part of the federal project “Eliminating the Digital Divide” until the end of next year, access to high-speed Internet should be received in 14 villages and auls of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic with a population of 250 to 500 people. These settlements have already been included in the approved register, and projects have been agreed upon.

In the plan until 2020, the authorities of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic plan to lay fiber-optic lines in 50 settlements with a population of 500 to 3 thousand people and in six where more than 3 thousand people live.

Digital divide in Dagestan

In Dagestan, the program for eliminating the digital divide includes more than 300 small villages and hamlets, which Rostelecom intends to connect to the network by the end of 2018. As TASS was told in regional ministry transport, energy and communications, settlements with a population of 250 to 500 people will be connected to the Internet.

“Rural residents will have the same opportunities as urban residents. As a result, a village resident will be able to do, for example, new job remotely. This is, indeed, the elimination of such obvious disproportions between large settlements and distant villages. Therefore, eliminating the digital divide is as important and necessary as good roads", said the agency's interlocutor.

According to the ministry, branches of Megafon, VimpelCom and MTS operate and are actively developing in the republic. Also, communication services are provided by the Rostelecom branch, Elektrosvyaz, the Summa Telecom branch, etc. Total subscribers - more than 3 million The coverage area of ​​​​communication services is about 90% of the territory of the republic, more than 70% of the population of Dagestan uses the Internet.

For the Internet - to Kabardino-Balkaria

The problem of digital inequality is not a problem for Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR). As the regional State Committee for Transport and Communications told TASS, there are no problems with the Internet in the republic.

"We have coverage almost everywhere mobile communications for all three operators (KBR operates Megafon, Beeline, MTS - TASS note). Rostelecom reaches all populated areas, so there is “wired” Internet everywhere. Yes, there are settlements where the Internet is slower, but now operators cellular communication are working on this, some of them (Megafon and Beeline) are starting to install 4G on the territory of the republic. If we take it geographically, Internet coverage in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic reaches 80%, and in populated areas - 100%,” Albert Mambetov, head of the state committee’s department, told TASS.

He also clarified that all schools, hospitals and social institutions in CBD are connected to high speed internet, and the connection is provided through Rostelecom channels.

Russian Internet forum

Russian Internet forum “RIF. Caucasus 2017" takes place in Kaspiysk on August 13 and 14. The TASS news agency is the information partner of the forum.