When telecoms gear makers Nokia (NOKIA.HE) and Ericsson (ERICb.ST) leave Russia at the end of the year, their departure could steadily cripple the country's mobile networks over the long-term, setting off a deterioration in communication for everyday Russians.
Five senior telecoms executives and other industry sources said Russian mobile phone users will likely experience slower downloads and uploads, more dropped calls, calls that won't connect, and longer outages as operators lose the ability to upgrade or patch software, and battle over dwindling spare parts inventories.
Ericsson and Nokia, which together account for a large share of the telecoms equipment market and close to 50% in terms of base stations in Russia, make everything from the telecom antennas to the hardware that connects optical fiber carrying digital signals.
They also provide crucial software that enables different parts of the network to function together.
"We are working towards the end of the year and that's when all exemptions (from sanctions) expire," Ericsson's finance chief Carl Mellander told Reuters. Ericsson received exemptions to sanctions from Swedish authorities.
Reuters
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