According to the Russian media, citing the statements of experts and sources familiar with the situation, a number of mobile operators were forced to indefinitely postpone agreements on the sale of mobile antennas due to recent events, no one can buy a portfolio of infrastructure.

In particular, there is talk of MTS, which had to postpone the sale of its towers, although the deal was expected to be completed by the end of the first half.

MTS became the last among the major mobile operators to separate their mobile antenna assets into a separate business. According to some sources, MTS intended to wait for the sale of assets from competitors and realize sales with maximum benefit against this background, but 2022 made adjustments to these plans.

With the beginning of the war in Ukraine, problems arose not only with MTS, but also with independent market participants, as the supply of equipment almost stopped due to sanctions and “violation of supply chains”. At the same time, the same Servis-Telekom is obliged to serve the loans already allocated for the purchased infrastructure.

Russia is left without 5G

It was expected that the rapid development of the market will provide the use of 5G technology, but against the background of war-related events, the emergence of fifth-generation communications in Russia was postponed indefinitely.

Therefore, Russia cannot count on the supply of new equipment in the near future, and at least in the near future, the country may forget about the development of the mobile industry.