Cellular network in Yakutia: what happens to base stations at -60 Celsius

Base station delivered on winter road

A winter road is a road that is only passable a few months a year. It needs to be rebuilt every time, because it is, in fact, made of pressed snow and ice. As the temperature drops to -15, it will be possible to cross the stream through the streams, pits and swamps and various small lakes. In Yakutia, about 7 thousand kilometers of winter roads are being laid from mid-December to April. This is 60% of the length of roads in the region.

When it becomes even "cooler" (it happens up to -60), special equipment does not stand up. This also creates a special entourage during installation.
')
Half of the base stations in Yakutia arrive at the place along the winter road , so we have very interesting planning - when we prepare to expand for six months, and then we try to deliver all the equipment while the roads are passable. In the summer, delivery is only possible by helicopter.


The base station for the village of Nama tells us that the 2012 season is closed - the car fell into the lake. Equipment was waiting for December 2013 for delivery to the site.

Permafrost installation

About the delivery in general, you already imagine. Now meet, this is permafrost. It is almost throughout the country.



In the permafrost, it is impossible to simply dig and dig a hole for piles. Imagine that the installation goes on something very reminiscent of a stone. Only a strange stone.


Before laying the foundation

For communication facilities to work in permafrost conditions, special technologies were required. In summer, the air temperature in Yakutia can reach high values, which can lead to soil thawing under the foundations of base stations and create a threat to their functioning.

To avoid this, seasonally acting cooling devices (SDAs) were used, which are a sealed structure charged with refrigerant. They cool the foundation and do not allow the permafrost to melt. These devices are installed in the foundations of 19 of the most complex Beeline communication facilities in the country ensuring their year-round reliable operation.


Foundation with sow

Network construction in the Far East

The construction of a network in Yakutia is one of the largest conducted by Beeline in the Far East.

In total, throughout 2013, in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, the company built over 1000 base stations of GSM and 3G standards. This construction was the largest in the history of Beeline in this region of the country.

The largest amount of work was carried out on the development of the GSM network in accordance with the licenses for the right to provide services received by the company in 2011 in 7 territories of the Far Eastern region: in Primorsky Krai, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Magadan Region, the Chukotka Autonomous Area, Koryak Autonomous District of the Kamchatka Territory and Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Region of the Irkutsk Region.

By the end of 2013, more than 1,250 base stations were built in the region. In total, this project provides for the launch of about 1,750 base stations until 2018, that is, we still have a lot to do. As a result, the connection will appear in all points with a population of more than 200 people. In the overwhelming majority of such small settlements, there have never been cellular communications.


About 500 people live in the village of Krasny Yar (Primorsky Krai). Beeline became the first operator to install a base station there.

In 2012-13 alone, the large-scale construction of the network made it possible to provide communication to about 800 settlements in the Far Eastern region, including more than 180 villages in which no mobile operator had previously been represented.


The usual buildings in the village, almost no high buildings. This is convenient, no signal reflections.

Most of the villages in which Beeline came first are in Yakutia. The average distance from the base station in the village to the core network node is 800 kilometers. And the northernmost point of Yakutia - the village of Yuryung-Khaya - is located at a distance of 3000 km from Yakutsk.


Yuryung-Khaya village (red marker at the top)

At such distances, it is not only about fiber-optic lines, but also radio-relay lines. Therefore, 12% of base stations - in the most remote settlements - are connected via satellite channels. Therefore, in the Far East, we are watching satellite launches with special interest.


Base station in one of the most northern points of the region (in summer, of course)

If we talk about the configuration of the BS on our sites, it differs from territory to territory. Thus, in the Primorsky Territory during the construction of GSM-1800, we carried out entrances to the position of the NTK operator acquired by VimpelCom in 2011 and possessing one of the largest GSM-900 networks.

In Ust-Orda Buryat District of the Irkutsk Region, the Magadan Region and the Jewish Autonomous Region, VimpelCom has 2 GSM licenses each: for 900 MHz and 1800 MHz.

Therefore, in small villages in which there is 1 site, on each of them base stations of both bands were located. In cities, due to the larger GSM-900 range, such BSs were required less, so there was no need to place on each site 2 GSM bases. At the same time, GSM-1800 allowed to provide a significant supply of network capacity, which is even more important for urban conditions.

In Koryakia, Yakutia and Chukotka, on most sites there is one GSM-1800 base station.

If we talk about the results of this construction, the main result - we fulfilled the promise that was given to residents of the Far East region at the beginning of last year - to provide Beeline communications to 90% of the populated area. Now, in terms of communication coverage in the license areas, we are not just in parity with other market participants, but also have become the only mobile operator in a large number of settlements.

Therefore, I want to say thank you, both to the company's employees and contractors, thanks to whom we successfully coped with all the tasks and provided the communication with a record number of settlements in the region.

We do not stop at what has been achieved and will continue to expand our network in the Far East, so that our subscriber will be even easier and more convenient to use the Beeline connection, no matter where they are.