More Than 50% Of Fiber Optic Cables In Russia Will Be Obsolete By The End Of The Year

The implications for connectivity will be massive.

The warranty period for more than half of fiber-optic cables in Russia in the west-east direction will expire this year, the newspaper "Vedomosti" writes. More than 400,000 km of cables need to be replaced in Russia by 2030.

More than half (50-70%) of fiber-optic cables in Russia in the west-east direction are close to the age limit. Their warranty period will expire this year. This was reported by the Vedomosti newspaper on Monday, November 24, citing data from the analytical company J'son & Partners Consultig.

It is estimated that by 2030 Russia will need to replace more than 400,000 km of fiber-optic cables with a service life of more than 20 years. The load of backbone networks from Moscow to Ulan-Ude is close to the limit of 60-70%, said the sales director of infrastructure telco Atlas Pavel Kolochkin.

The historical peak of infrastructure development was in the early 2000s. Thus the standard 20-25 year lifespan of cables is coming to an end. With the passage of time, optical fiber clouding will lead to signal degradation and adversely affect the capacity of backbone communication systems.

The supply of optical fiber from China is growing

The complete replacement of cables may cost hundreds of billions of rubles, said analyst Alexei Boyko. The only Russian manufacturer is the Optical Fiber Systems plant in Saransk. At the same time, sales of Chinese fiber optic cables in Russia are growing on the background of China's dumping and state support of the Chinese government.

The Washington Post previously cited data from China's customs department, according to which in May and June a record number of fiber optic cables were exported to Russia - 190,400 km and 208,000 km respectively. In August, this figure rose to 524,800 km.

Based on the high value of the shipments, Atlantic Council researcher Joseph Webster then concluded that these were military products. The publication calculated that the August deliveries alone were enough for 26,240 drones.

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