June 4 2024

Work is underway to test connect subscribers in the village of Amderma, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, to an underwater fiber-optic communication line (UFOCL) as part of the “Polar Express” project. Social infrastructure facilities and government bodies will be the first to connect to UFOCL.

“Thanks to the “Polar Express” project, hard-to-reach settlements in the Arctic and Far East are connected to a new main communication line. Residents will be able to take advantage of high-speed Internet and digital services. For our industry, it is important that the project will provide reliable and high-speed communication channels to the port infrastructure in the Arctic, on the Northern Sea Route,” noted Mr. Andrei Tarasenko, the head of Rosmorrechflot.

Earlier, in 2022-2023, coastal stations were built in Teriberka in the Murmansk region, Amderma in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and in Dikson in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The first UFOCL section from Teriberka to Amderma with a length of more than 680 nautical miles (more than 1260 km) was commissioned in October 2022.

In 2023, work began on the section from Amderma to Dikson, which has a length of about 500 nm (900 km). 43 nm (80 km) of cable from Dikson towards Amderma have been laid so far.

In 2024, as soon as ice conditions allow, work on the Dikson-Amderma section will continue.

The project also includes territorial planning, design and construction work at shore stations in Tiksi in Yakutia and Pevek in Chukotka.

The project of a trans-Arctic underwater fiber-optic communication line with a total length of 12,650 km will connect Murmansk and Vladivostok along the shortest route between Europe and Asia and will create an alternative to satellite communications in northern latitudes.

The project is being implemented in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On the strategy for the development of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and ensuring national security for the period until 2035” by order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia with the support of Rosmorrechflot, Rosmorport and FSUE “Morsvyazsputnik”.

Source: ‘RosMorRechFlot’ Federal Agency