Analysts have assessed the technological development of Russian operators

J'son & Partners Consulting has completed a study of the technological development of the largest Russian telecom operators. The study compared the patent and research activity of companies and the practical application of technologies in products for private clients, businesses and the public sector.

According to the results of the study, within the framework of the chosen methodology, taking into account the activity of R&D, product innovations in B2C, telecom and non-telecom products for B2B and B2G, participation in technology training and the speed of launching individual new functions, MTS received the highest integrated assessment of the level of technological development - 83% of the maximum score (100%). Next — Rostelecom/T2 — 70%, Beeline - 60% and MegaFon - 54%.

MTS' high integral result is formed primarily due to a combination of two factors — research activity, as well as technological saturation and innovation of B2C products, J'son & Partners Consulting noted. In the sample under consideration, MTS showed the highest result in a group of criteria characterizing R&D: it includes patent activity, registered software developments, and other indicators characterizing the creation and formalization of intellectual property results. MTS accounts for about 54% of telecom operators' patents.

Separately, the authors studied the patent activity of AT&T, NTT, KDDI, Vodafone and SK Telecom. According to their assessment, Russian and foreign operators are developing in similar directions, but global players are more likely to have large patent portfolios. For Russian operators, the role of application software and technology implementation in products is more noticeable.