Reviews of Rostelecom employees - about the company and work in it. Industry description and competitive analysis Rostelecom which companies are included

Shares of the market leaders of commercial data storage and processing centers by the number of racks, 2018, Source: data from TMT Consulting, 2018. %

The confident growth of the information security market will continue as the volume of data stored in information systems, as well as the growth of data transmission in Smart Home projects, automatic systems management technical process and the Internet of Things. In the period 2018-2022, the forecast CAGR for the market will be about 9%

Mikhail Oseevsky - on the first results of work at the head of the company, the development of the industry and the mining of cryptocurrency

Rostelecom President Mikhail Oseevsky, who headed the company in March 2017, in an interview with RBC spoke about the operator's role in the Digital Economy, the future of eSports, and why increasing the share in Tele2 is not a priority

Mikhail Oseevsky (Photo: Arseniy Neskhodimov for RBC)

In early March, early terminated the powers of Sergei Kalugin, who had headed Rostelecom since 2013, and approved the top manager of VTB Mikhail Oseevsky as president. Analysts changed the head of the company unexpected - there were no obvious complaints about Kalugin. According to two sources of RBC in the market, Oseevsky's candidacy for the post of head of Rostelecom was lobbied by the VTB group, which intended to sell its stake in their joint venture - "T2 RTK Holding" (provides services mobile communications under the Tele2 brand). Sergey Kalugin, in turn, opposed such a deal.

The top manager spoke about who invited Mikhail Oseevsky to the post of head of Rostelecom, the vision of Tele2's development and the new strategy of the state operator in an interview with RBC.

"I knew it was a very large company."

- When and from whom did you receive an invitation to head Rostelecom?

- The final decision on the appointment of the head of Rostelecom is made by the chairman of the government, signing the directive. Actually, the offer came from him in the winter of 2017, a few weeks before the appointment.

- How did you take it? What introductory notes did they give you about Rostelecom? How did they coincide with what you later saw in the company?

- At that time, work was already underway on the creation of the Digital Economy program. It became obvious that Rostelecom will play a key role in its implementation. I suppose that the decision of the government was made with this in mind.

While working at VTB, I developed an idea of \u200b\u200bRostelecom, since it was a client of the bank. First of all, about financial performance: I knew that this was a very large company, with large revenues, high margins, profitable, securities which are traded both in Russia and abroad.

- What did you manage to do in six months as president?

- As anyone who comes to the management of a company, I focused on setting up the team and getting immersed in key business processes. A new board has been formed, which should play a more active role in the governance structure. I believe that the company performed well in the second quarter - revenue has grown significantly, profits have almost doubled, and good margins have been ensured (over 32% by OIBDA). The company is growing in almost all major business segments. We pay a lot of attention to optimizing the management model, strengthening management not only at the level of the corporate center, but also at the branches. All of this is a basic platform for moving forward.

- These actions are a continuation of the policy and strategy of the previous command or a givenalready by youvector of development?

- A company like Rostelecom is huge aircraft carrier... He cannot turn sharply to the right and then to the left - you can turn over and drown. The strategy, which was adopted at the end of 2013, assumed an increase in the share of modern digital products, it is absolutely correct, we are moving in this direction, and even at a faster pace than expected. But over the past years, a lot has happened - the external conditions have changed, new digital services and technologies have appeared and strengthened. Therefore, today we are actively working to develop a new five-year strategy, including taking into account the approved federal program for the digital economy.

What does Rostelecom do

The public joint-stock company of long-distance and international telecommunications "Rostelecom" was registered on September 23, 1993 (then - in the form of an OJSC). The company provides local telephony services, broadband Internet access and cloud data storage, pay TV, and services based on its own backbone communication network. Owns data processing centers (DPC), is an operator of the gosuslugi.ru portal, a contractor for programs to eliminate the "digital divide", Internet connection medical institutions and other government projects. Rostelecom owns 45% of T2 RTK Holding (the remaining 55% belong to a consortium of investors within the VTB Group, Alexey Mordashov's Invintel B.V. and Yuri Kovalchuk's Rossiya Bank).

Rostelecom's revenues in the second quarter were RUB 75.2 billion, net profit - RUB 2.8 billion. As of December 31, 2016, the largest shareholders of the company were the state represented by the Federal Property Management Agency (owned 48.71% of ordinary shares), Rostelecom's subsidiary Mobitel (15.06%) and Vnesheconombank (4.29%). Rostelecom shares are traded on Moskovskaya stock exchange, ADRs are traded on the OTCQX trading floor of the OTC Markets Group OTC trading system, not listed on the London, Frankfurt and other foreign stock exchanges.

"It is necessary to remove from our name the postscript" long-distance and international telecommunications "

- When do you plan to adopt a new strategy, what should it contain?

“We are targeting the end of this year. The strategy will have a clear financial model with our forecast results. This is very important for a public company like Rostelecom. In general, the main vector remains - this is the evolutionary development of Rostelecom into a provider of digital services. We believe that it is necessary to transform into a company that will provide smart digital services for end customers - people, companies and the state.

I think it is necessary to take a symbolic step: to remove from our name the term “long distance and international telecommunications”. The company has long outgrown this definition. In recent years, Rostelecom has been actively growing in segments such as broadband Internet access, pay TV, data centers and clouds ( cloud services. — RBK). These segments are helping to successfully offset the drop in telephony revenue. Compared to 2012, last year revenue from telephone services decreased by a third, its contribution to total revenue is already less than 30%. At the same time, there is no decrease in total revenue - thanks to the digital segment, which in the second quarter of 2017 provided 47% of revenue. Digital revenues have grown by more than 10% year-on-year.

What is important to keep in mind: as a result, part of what we are doing today, Internet access, for example, will become an impersonal housing and communal service - like water or energy supply. Only unlike water and electricity, our traffic is unlimited - it is not paid by the meter. We want to be a company that sells as many end products as possible - high-margin services and services. Not a service delivery method, or, say, not only a delivery method, but also the product itself - for example, television and video content. Rostelecom is developing the most advanced pay TV technology - IPTV (controlling, by the way, 74% of the market), which uses the broadband access network to deliver TV and video content. Another promising area is “smart home” for household management and security, other intelligent services for home and family.

If we talk about the B2B / B2G segment, then here we see the perspective in the “everything you need as a service” model. When we offer a client a comprehensive solution to his communication and IT tasks on a turnkey basis, including ultra-high-speed communication channels, equipment and IT infrastructure, data centers and cloud software, cyber protection, technical support for all this. Thus, the client is freed from non-core tasks and can concentrate on his business.

Photo: Sergey Karpukhin / Reuters

- Will the indicators stipulated by the previous strategy (calculated for the period from 2015 to 2020) be achieved? For example, by 2020 the company was supposed to occupy 50% of the broadband access (BBA) market in Russia.

- We see that the Internet penetration in the country is already at a high level, the sales of this product are clearly slowing down. Nevertheless, Rostelecom is growing faster than the market, more than half of new broadband subscribers choose our company. There are still many different players on the market, and there is a consolidation. I think we will not give up this goal. And in what horizon we will go to it - we'll see. We see certain prospects for M&A transactions (mergers and acquisitions, "mergers and acquisitions". - RBK), we are constantly looking at various companies.

"Rostelecom does not need to gain control of Tele2 in order to realize synergies"

- Sources of RBC said that you were invited to Rostelecom to increase your stake in T2 RTK Holding. At your first press conference you said that Rostelecom is analyzing the feasibility of increasing its stake, but is not considering a full buyout. On the latter, the companies are focused on finding synergies in joint business development. There is no deal and will not be?

- Increasing the share is currently not our priority. Together with our Tele2 partners, we are focused on improving our operating and financial results. As we see today, we manage to organize interaction in such a way that there are results. When I said that we are analyzing the need to gain control in Tele2, I had in mind the question: will this help to achieve the required indicators in terms of efficiency? Today the management of Rostelecom and Tele2 is working closely and harmoniously. Tele2 has completely switched to using Rostelecom's communication channels, we are discussing the possibility of maintaining Tele2 infrastructure by our specialists. This will enable the two companies to cut costs and become more efficient.

Rostelecom has successfully started as a virtual mobile operator on the Tele2 network: 500,000 subscribers in eight months of operation - a good result. Soon in retail network Tele2 will start selling Rostelecom's service packages. We continue to move towards the provision of 4Play services (mobile services, fixed telephony, Internet access and Pay TV a single package. — RBK). Let's start selling in a limited number of regions to test. The global vector of companies' development is providing complex services turnkey client. It shouldn't matter in what way (wired or wireless) the client gets what he needs - communication, information and emotions.

In the first half of 2018, Tele2 headquarters will move to office center Comcity in Rumyantsevo, where Rostelecom divisions and our subsidiaries are already operating. This is also important and necessary for the formation of common teams. We pay a lot of attention to marketing and the formation of product lines. In particular, Rostelecom has a strong position in the TV and video content consolidation market, and we want to use this potential in providing services for Tele2 clients. We are discussing a number of other joint products.

Today Rostelecom does not need to gain control over Tele2 in order to realize synergy. We see that Tele2, as a company owned by different shareholders, is developing successfully. In general, I can say that Tele2's results for the first half of 2017 are very good.

Photo: Casper Hedberg / Bloomberg

- But due to the fact that they are not disclosed, there is a suspicion that something is wrong with them.

- It was decided not to disclose [the indicators] for a number of reasons. But take my word for it that the operating and financial results are noticeably better than what we expected.

- Did I understand correctly that due to the fact that Tele2 improved its financial results, the issue of reducing the share of individual shareholders of the company has ceased to be relevant?

- This should be asked from other shareholders.

- But you must know their position ...

- Today, all major shareholders of Tele2 are focused on improving the company's efficiency. We, VTB, and Bank Rossiya are actively working together on the board of directors to help develop Tele2. There is no need to fuss, we are big, serious players who make key decisions based on strategic interests, not the current situation.

- When will Tele2 be able to recoup investments in network construction in Moscow? Many analysts doubted that the exit to metropolitan market the fall of 2015 was a smart move for the company due to the high competition in Moscow and the high costs of such expansion.

- It is incorrect to count separately. Any company, including Rostelecom, operates with different margins and profitability in different markets and in different regions. It depends on the infrastructure, the moment of entry, competition. It is impossible not to be in Moscow. This is the country's key market. If a company does not work in Moscow, consider it globally russian market does not exist.

- Due to the fact that Rostelecom intends to focus on the end customer, will a 45% stake in Tele2 be sufficient for the company? Tele2 has a large subscriber base ...

- The future business model is partnership. We do not plan to produce all the products that we are going to offer to our customers alone. The idea that only after gaining control one can achieve a result is, it seems to me, outdated.

"None of the operators cellular communication alone will not be able to create 5G infrastructure "

- You said that the new strategy of Rostelecom will have a connection with the state program Digital Economy, which was announced by the government in July. How will this be expressed?

- First of all, this is the development of infrastructure. The creation of fifth generation (5G) networks is very important. This is a separate large area that will be reflected in our strategy. We believe that Rostelecom can act as an infrastructure operator and partner for the entire industry. None of the cellular operators alone will be able to create 5G infrastructure - it is very expensive.

- Are you talking about transport communication networks?

- Not only, we are talking about the entire access infrastructure: about communication channels, and about base stations, which will need to be installed dozens of times more than in networks of previous generations. We believe that the most effective solution will create a common company using optical networks (fiber optic communication lines. - RBK) "Rostelecom".

- Have you already discussed this idea with someone other than Tele2?

- We are not only starting to service communication channels and equipment of Tele2, but also other operators, including the Big Three. As an outsourcing or infrastructure company, we are consistently gaining capacity and we believe that this is a good basis to gradually move to deeper cooperation, to the creation of a common infrastructure.

- Do the regulators and the government agree to create such a single company?

- Business has not yet reached concrete proposals and solutions. But it is very important that there is a dialogue between market participants, everyone understands the current problems.

Photo: Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg

- What do you plan to do in addition to infrastructure under the Digital Economy program?

- We will participate in the development of plans and policies for all five areas of the program - regulation, personnel, infrastructure, research platforms and end-to-end technologies, cyber security. For example, Rostelecom has created a special Center for Cybersecurity and Protection, which is deservedly considered one of the strongest in the country.

We consider the creation of applied digital platforms for various sectors of the economy very promising. Digital technology platforms are created in the interests of individual industries, because each of them has its own specifics. It is intelligent software that accumulates a huge array of industry data and provides convenient tools for processing it. The platform helps to extract and process "raw" information into a system of industry knowledge. Today, even a simple field can and should become a source of digital data. On the field, you can install sensors that automatically collect information about humidity and precipitation, temperature, sunny days, soil. This data is collected on the industry platform, systematized, applications begin to process it, machine intelligence is connected - as a result, recommendations are issued on watering, fertilizing, the optimal start of planting and collection. Everything is automated and objective, the influence of the human factor on data collection and analysis is excluded. The result of the work of the platform and applications on it is a good harvest and an effective business.

In digital platforms, the centers of competence in the program are Rosatom and Rostec, but we work with them in partnership. We have chosen four priority sectors for ourselves: oil and gas production, energy, mechanical engineering and agriculture... Each industry has its own specifics; the agro-industrial complex and oil production require different sensors, a special approach to data analysis. Also, the platform approach is applicable to social services. Recently, we have been paying great attention to the development of projects in the field of "smart" healthcare. The transition to digital medical records and their accumulation in a secure centralized electronic archive of medical information opens up great prospects. In the future, the analysis of constantly updated information will help predict the need for medicines and medical personnel, and develop preventive plans. Remote access to the medical history (of course, with the patient's permission) will make it easier to provide the right care wherever he is.

- Since recently, everyone has started talking about blockchain technology, about the extraction (mining) of cryptocurrency. Are you considering the possibility of mining cryptocurrency in your data centers?

- Let's split the question. We believe that blockchain as a distributed secure storage system undoubtedly has a future. Russia must move in this direction. What is the future of the cryptocurrency - we'll see. I am still very restrained, because this is a question, in general, of faith. Everyone played candy wrappers in childhood. The candy wrappers "Bear in the North" or "Red Poppy" had different "values". More precisely, the children believed that it was a value. It's the same with cryptocurrency. While this is a very risky story.

- But you could mine cryptocurrency on your infrastructure and exchange it for real money.

- We will not deal with this ourselves, but companies have the opportunity to rent capacities from us in the data center and "mine". If this kind of activity does not contradict the current legislation - please.

- Was it difficult for you as a new person in telecom to immerse yourself in technological aspects?

- I was lucky. For the first time in the last 25 years of my life, I started working for a company where the engineering education I received will be useful. For a rather long period (eight years) I was engaged in quantum physics, laser physics: many things from the point of view of information transfer are clear to me. Much, of course, is new. Especially in the part that concerns modern Internet and other high technologies. But it is also an opportunity to gain new knowledge. Indeed, over the past six months I have discovered a lot for myself.

In general, the industry is changing very rapidly in terms of technology and products. But the industry is not growing - the dynamics of revenues from communication services is near zero. This is not good. Today Russia is one of the leaders in terms of the availability of telecom services - both mobile and home internet... For us and our colleagues in the industry, this is the main challenge (challenge. - RBK) - how to move forward in conditions of a rather low ARPU (average account per subscriber. - RBK). There is only one direction - new products, services and offers. The client is ready to pay for comfort, convenience in solving everyday problems, on the one hand. On the other hand, he is ready to pay for emotions. For example, for a good movie or TV series - please, you can find it in our IPTV. For a cool online game - please, we are developing special products for gamers. In general, I think that esports will actively develop. We are monitoring the development of virtual reality and other technologies that may make the delivery of emotions even more vibrant and high-tech in the future.

Photo: Arseniy Neskhodimov for RBC

- You have own business?

- For a long time I have kept all my money in deposits in state banks. Having gone a long way of various experiments, having led the exchange, I understood what risks exist and how much time it takes to eliminate them. Therefore, it was clearly determined that the hired manager high level there is no need to enter into any conflicts of interest and bother with assessing any risks that are not related to what he does.

Six facts about Mikhail Oseevsky

1983 - graduated from the MI Kalinin Leningrad Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electrical engineering.

1986-1993 - worked at the D.V. Efremov Research Institute of Electrophysical Equipment (NIIEFA).

1993-1999 - was the deputy manager and then the manager of the St. Petersburg Currency Exchange.

2003-2011 - Vice Governor of St. Petersburg, in 2011-2012 - Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia.

From July 2012 to March 2017, he was Deputy President - Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank.