Space Villages: Residents of Small Settlements Get Internet Access Via Russian Express-AM Satellites

For the New Year’s Day, residents of the village of Dubrovo, Rostov District, and Kostyurino, Myshkinsky District in the Yaroslavl Region, received a long-awaited gift: satellite equipment was installed in the villages and communication channels were arranged for accessing the Internet via the Russian Express-AM6 spacecraft at the 53°E orbital position in geostationary orbit. All villagers were given logins and passwords to access the Internet via a Wi-Fi network, and now everyone has the opportunity to use digital banking, educational and government services, instant messengers and social networks.

A month earlier, under the "Project 100” program, the same satellite Internet access service was arranged for residents of a number of villages in the Tver Region.

Today, thousands of small villages suffer restricted access to information and basic services due to their remote location and poorly developed telecommunications infrastructure. RSCC helps to reduce the number of such settlements cut off from communications and the Internet. The promising satellite access technology makes it possible to connect residents of small settlements in all regions of the Russian Federation to the Internet and socially significant digital services at a much lower cost for the network creation as compared to the conventional fiber optics.

“Our goal is to give people the opportunity to use communications and the Internet throughout our country. Today, this is possible only with the help of satellite communications. In 2022-2023, we plan to improve the technology and procedure for providing the services with regional operators. It is also important to get feedback and analyze user experience in order to provide the best digital opportunities to residents of small settlements, where almost two million people live today,” says Alexey Volin, Director General of the Russian Satellite Communications Company.