Mobile Internet speeds in Russia fell in February in regions outside Moscow after the withdrawal of foreign equipment manufacturers limited Russian operators’ access to equipment, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

The specialized publication Telecom Daily reported on Wednesday that the speed of Internet access for Russians has decreased.

However, the largest Russian telecommunications operators, including MTS and Megafon, denied the results of the study, claiming that in February they noticed an increase in access speed both in the capital Moscow and beyond.

Several phone company executives, as well as other sources in the telecommunications industry, said late last year that the departure of telecommunications equipment makers Nokia and Ericsson could affect Russian mobile networks in the long term, so that communications for Russians could be damaged.

Muscovites cannot run out of internet with an acceptable speed

The specialized publication Telecom Daily, citing data collected after tens of thousands of measurements made by users of the Megabitus Internet speed tracking tool, claims that in February in Moscow, the average mobile Internet speed decreased, the connection increased by 32% year-on-year, and in other regions of Russia decreased by 7%.

Telecom Daily, which has been publishing news and analysis of the telecommunications sector for 20 years, blamed the decline on a lack of equipment and the tendency of mobile operators to install new base stations in big cities where there is more demand for their services.

Telecom Daily also claims that the decline in mobile Internet traffic in Moscow also contributed to the increase in access speed.

“Any communication problems in Moscow and St. Petersburg can create serious image problems for the operator. On the other hand, no one will notice if the Internet speed drops by 20% – 30% in a remote area,” said Denys Kuskov, director of Telecom Daily.

Communications operators in Russia say that the speed, on the contrary, is increasing

The Russian operator MTS, however, reported that it had noticed an increase in mobile Internet traffic and speed in regions of Russia, not a decrease.

“MTS is constantly working on expanding the bandwidth of the network, and communication operators and regulatory bodies are conducting a dialogue aimed at eliminating administrative barriers and stimulating the development of the industry,” the company said.

Competitor Megafon claims that the average speed of mobile Internet access on its network in regions other than Moscow in February this year was 14% higher than in February last year, and in Moscow – 18.5% higher.

Other major operators in Russia, such as Tele2 and Beeline, as well as the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation, did not want to comment.