Republic of Tatarstan:

6. infoRmaTion anD communicaTions
In 2009, networks of antenna TV reception were being reconstructed,
which includes the upgrading of their infrastructure by installing multiservice
cable networks with larger number of rendered services. The
number of satellite TV users is estimated at 12% of the total number of
households.
In 2009, the republic began the trial operation of IP-TV service (interactive
digital TV) for subscribers connected to Internet via Ethernet Home
Network. After completion of the trial operation stage, it is planned to
expand the scope of IP-TV services to up to 100 TV channels, nVoD, VoD,
Karaoke, Radio, and Time Shifted TV.
The coverage by community antenna networks is 67% households.
6.3. cOMMunicATiOnS
Tatarstan was the first in Russia to completely
switch over to 100% digital infrastructure and to
the networks of the following generation (NGN).
A number of important social and economic
tasks have been solved in the republic:
• Provision of the republic’s residents with telecommunications;
• Elimination of “digital inequality” between
urban and rural areas as regards the provision
of communications and access to the
Internet;
• Provision of 100% access to universal telecomm
services in each settlement of the
Republic of Tatarstan;
• 3G and 4G standards have been introduced
and are being developed;
• Internet coverage continues to grow, already reaching 50%;
• The sector is completely de-monopolised with operations being based
on the public-private partnership.
The subscribers’ base in the republic grew up to 7.161 million in 2009,
including 1.116 million fixed-line subscribers and 6.043 million mobile subscribers.
The average rate of the fixed-line telephone penetration in the republic
is 31.3 phones per 100 persons, including 35.8 phones in urban areas (40.3
phones in Kazan, which corresponds to the European level of development)
and 18.3 phones in rural areas. The coverage with home telephones
is 99.6%, while the mobile penetration increased to 160.5%.
The major areas in the development of new services are as follows:
• Providing every household with access to the broadband Internet at
up to 1 Gbps;
• Enhancing the throughput of the backbone data transmission network,
including the same for rendering HDTV services and servicing
the traffic of data processing centres;
• Introduction of LTE technology (4.5G high-speed wireless access).
• Development of mobile WiMAX, a 4G network technology;
• Further work on the development of the digital infrastructure of In-
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ternet broadband access with the use of high-speed wire and wireless
technologies, development of 3G and 4G technologies, implementation
of the projects on the introduction of Triple Play (IP-TV) services
and “optic-fibre-to-home” projects;
6.4. LOcAL, LOnG-diSTAncE,
And inTErnATiOnAL
TELEphOnE cOMMunicATiOnS
The length of the local fibre-optical communication lines totalled over
3900 kilometres. The Republic of Tatarstan boasts a strong, flexible telecommunication
digital transport network, which allows it to ensure
the introduction of the newest information technologies and all kinds of
present-day telecommunication services, as well as to provide high-quality
services of international, long-distance and local telephony via automatic
or recording application systems.
In the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan, services of local telephony
are provided to subscribers by three operators, OAO Tattelecom, OOO Teleset,
and OAO TatAisNeft.
Individuals, enterprises and organisations of Tatarstan make use of longdistance
and international telephony either in the “pre-select” or in the “hot
choice” modes. The residents of the republic is widely using long-distance
and international connections via IP-telephony that allows long-distance
and international calls at low rates and with high quality.
6.5. dATA TrAnSMiSSiOn
nETWOrKS, ThE inTErnET
And nEW SErVicES
The main achievement in 2009 was the growth in providing people with
Internet broadband access to 50%.
In Tatarstan, unique multiservice networks of data transmission have
been created and are operated which cover all regional centres and allow
corporate users to implement their infocomm projects of any degree of
complexity and with maximum efficiency. High-capacity data links with
Gigabit Ethernet (GE) interfaces from 1 to 10 Gbps have been run to each
city and district centre of the republic. Based on the multiservice data backbones,
the corporate networks of public authorities, economic entities and
financial business organisations are developing and a unified scientific and
educational network of the Republic of Tatarstan is being formed.
The total number of subscribers in the Republic of Tatarstan having access
to the Internet using all wire and wireless technologies is 1,617,000.
The number of broadband Internet subscribers reached 653,000; the
number of GPRS/EDGE users increased to 892,000 and 3G users, increased
to 103,000.
In the last three years, the market of Internet services is undergoing a demonopolisation.
While in 2007 the majority of residents and organisations
in the Republic of Tatarstan had dial-up access to the Internet, now the subscribers
prefer high-speed access, dedicated lines, and use unlimited tariff
plans of service providers.
7. TOURISM
In recent years, the investment
climate has essentially
improved in the sphere of
tourism, with the number of
tourist attractions tending to
rise and the flows of tourists
and number of jobs in this industry
growing increasingly.
In Tatarstan, the Republic’s
Target Programme for Tourism
Sphere Development for
2009-2011 is being implemented.
As to the development of
the tourist industry in Russia,
the Republic of Tatarstan
holds a lead in this field: over
the last 5 years, the annual average
growth rates of domestic
tourist flows were 12%,
and even in the crisis year of
2009 the domestic tourism grew by over 5%.
In 2009, the tourist flow to the republic reached 977,000, with the value
of tourist and health resort services (including hotel services) having increased
to RUR 4,885 million. Tourist services in the republic are rendered
by over 500 travel companies, including some 300 in Kazan.
Building of hotels continues at a high pace. The republic currently has
154 hotels with a total of 5,400 rooms, including 4-star and 5-star hotels.
For tourists, Tatarstan is not only “the third capital of Russia” - the city of
Kazan with the Kazan Kremlin, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a symbol
of combination of Muslim and Orthodox cultural traditions. This is also the
6.6. pOSTAL SErVicE
Republic of TaTaRsTan: GeneRal oveRview, sTaTe sysTem, economy Republic of TaTaRsTan: GeneRal oveRview, sTaTe sysTem, economy
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7. TouRism
In 2009, postal service continues to implement new ICT-based projects:
within the framework of the KiberPocht@ project, 73 shared access points
to the Internet (a total of 120 workstations) were created; within the framework
of the PochtaBank project jointly with Ak Bars Bank, a total of 450
postal bank ATMs were installed to receive and dispense cash, to pay subsidies;
a new project, “Remittances through Western Union”, was introduced;
etc.
In 2010, some new projects are scheduled for the introduction, such as
provision of residents with public electronic services based on the multipurpose
centres and post offices using elements of e-Government of
Tatarstan, provision of people with medicines and further extension of the
range of new infocomm services.
site of Boulgar known in the Islamic world as a “North Mecca”, Khuzhalar
Tavy pilgrimage destination in Bilyarsk, the Virgin Monastery of Raifa, the
Sviyazhsk island town founded under the decree of Tsar Ivan Grozny, the
millennial town of Yelabuga associated with life and work of Ivan Shishkin,
Marina Tsvetaeva and Nadezhda Durova, and the city of Chistopol connected
with the name of Boris Pasternak.
With a view of creating conditions for the development and employment
of new tourist resources, effective development of the territory, the Decree
of President of the Republic of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev No.UP-408 of
July 25, 2008 established the Tourist-Recreation Park Kamskiye Polyany
uniting five districts of the republic. This area is located in the geographical
centre of Tatarstan and is characterised by favourable climatic and natural
conditions and significant historic and cultural potential.