Over 400 kilometers of fiber-optic cable have been laid in the polar region across the Evenkiysky District (the Evenk National Ulus) in Yakutia, making its Olenyoksky district the first municipality in the republic’s Arctic area to switch from satellite to fiber-optic infrastructure. 

“The fiber-optic communications cable stretches 432 km, with a throughput capacity of 20 Gbps… The cable was named after Alexander Ivanov, the former head of the Olenyok district, who worked hard to have the project implemented. Olenyok will be the first locality in Arctic Yakutia to have mobile 4G-internet connection from MegaFon,” reports the press service of the regional head’s administration and government.The official launch of the fiber-optic service was attended by Head of the Republic of Yakutia Aisen Nikolayev and Vice President/Director of Rostelecom Far East Alexander Loginov.

“This is a remarkable event in the history of digitizing of our republic...” Nikolayev said. “I think that regardless of where a person lives, be it in Yakutia or the Extreme North, he or she should be able to take full advantage of all modern achievements, including high-speed internet.”  

Work to lay the fiber-optic communications cable started in March of this year under a contract signed by the Government of Yakutia, the Olenyok district  administration and Rostelecom at the Eastern Economic Forum in September 2019. The construction began from the town of Udachny, in the Mirninsky district, heading toward the rural settlements of Olenyok and Kharyalakh in the Olenyok district. The Verkhnyaaya Muna rotation camp was connected to the internet in the course of implementing the project.