Russia Communications 2021, CIA World Factbook

total subscriptions: 27,674,128

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 19.38 (2019 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 239,795,946

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 167.9 (2019 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment:

telecom market is largest in Europe, centered in large cities; competition active in Moscow and St Petersburg; most users access Internet through mobile platforms; fiber broadband sector is growing, supported by government in aim to extend reach to outlying regions; tests of 5G with Moscow adopting smart city technology; government justifies censorship and website blocks under a range of laws and regulations; government program aims to provide 97% of households with fixed broadband by 2024; publicly accessible Internet connections in institutions such as hospitals, libraries, schools, and mass transit available in cities; in rural areas, the availability of public Internet connections remains limited; major importer of broadcasting equipment and computers from China (2021)

(2020)

domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low-density; 22 per 100 for fixed-line and mobile-cellular 164 per 100 persons (2019)

international: country code - 7; landing points for the Far East Submarine Cable System, HSCS, Sakhalin-Kuril Island Cable, RSCN, BCS North-Phase 2, Kerch Strait Cable and the Georgia-Russian submarine cable system connecting Russia, Japan, Finland, Georgia and Ukraine; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadcast media

13 national TV stations with the federal government owning 1 and holding a controlling interest in a second; state-owned Gazprom maintains a controlling interest in 2 of the national channels; government-affiliated Bank Rossiya owns controlling interest in a fourth and fifth, while a sixth national channel is owned by the Moscow city administration; the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian military, respectively, own 2 additional national channels; roughly 3,300 national, regional, and local TV stations with over two-thirds completely or partially controlled by the federal or local governments; satellite TV services are available; 2 state-run national radio networks with a third majority-owned by Gazprom; roughly 2,400 public and commercial radio stations

Internet country code

.ru; note - Russia also has responsibility for a legacy domain ".su" that was allocated to the Soviet Union and is being phased out

Internet users

total: 114,920,477

percent of population: 80.86% (July 2018 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 32,857,614

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 23.01 (2019 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Russia on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Russia 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Russia 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.