MOSCOW: Rostelecom PJSC, the largest integrated digital service provider in Russia, announced that it has started the construction of a Tier IV data center in Moscow, with ultimate level of redundancy and reliability, and fault tolerance.

Rostelecom’s new Tier IV data center will be built in south-eastern Moscow, with total area of 10,150 sqm and capacity of 2,000 rack (5 kW each). Total processing capacity will amount to 17 MW.

The design and construction are in line with the highest Tier IV standard for infrastructure functionality and capacity introduced by the Uptime Institute. This globally recognized benchmark and class of data center reliability and overall performance means that all system elements and distribution channels are not only cashed, but the data physical security is also ensured by separate storage locations and dedicated transmission networks which significantly minimizes the chances of a security breach. Tier 4 data centers ensure continuous power supply and cooling technology of the IT-infrastructure.

The new data center will receive a multi-layered certification at Design, Facility and Operational Sustainability levels by the Uptime Institute, which will make it the first ever certified Tier IV data center in Russia.

Pavel Kaplunov, Vice President for Cloud Services at Rostelecom and director general of Rostelecom – Data Processing Centres, commented: “The construction of our new data center is the joint effort of Rostelecom Data Center and the DataLine team which joined us at the beginning of the year. The combined experience and skillset will help us with the Uptime Institute certification process, as well as to further develop a resilient infrastructure and smart data center management practices.”

The newly established data center will be launched in stages with the first 500 racks piloting in the second half of 2021, and full capacity anticipated by the middle of 2022.

In 2020, Rostelecom plans to launch two data centers in Moscow with a capacity of 1,050 racks, as well as other facilities in Saint-Petersburg (800 racks) and Novosibirsk (300 racks).

Rostelecom is the largest integrated digital services and products provider, operating in all segments of the telecommunications market in Russia. The Company serves millions of households, state and private enterprises across the country.

Rostelecom is Russia’s undisputed market leader, providing high-speed Internet access and pay-TV. The total number of broadband users stands at over 13.2 mln users, it has more than 10.5 mln pay-TV customers, over 5.7 mln of which are subscribed to Rostelecom’s IPTV services. Tele2 Russia, a Rostelecom subsidiary, is a major player in the mobile market with over 44 mln subscribers and the industry leading NPS, a customer satisfaction benchmark.

In the first quarter of 2020, the Group generated RUB 121.6 bln of revenues, RUB 47.1 bln of OIBDA (38.7% of revenue) and RUB 7.7 bln of net income.

The Group is the leading provider of telecommunications services to government bodies and corporates of all levels.

Rostelecom is a key strategic innovator that provides solutions in the following fields: E-Government, cybersecurity, data-centers and cloud computing, biometry, healthcare, education and housing & utility services.

The Group’s stable financial position is confirmed by its credit ratings. Rostelecom has been assigned ‘BBB-‘ and ‘BB+’ international credit ratings by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s respectively, and AA(RU) by ACRA.