Russian national operator Rostelecom and VEB Ventures, run by the bank VEB, have signed a binding agreement on the launch of their joint venture Atlas. Atlas will focus on the deployment of Tea Next (New Generation Transit Europe – Asia) cable, connecting the western and eastern borders of Russia. The new system will have links to major cities along the route, as well as cross-border connections to China and Mongolia and links further abroad to Frankfurt and Stockhom. A sea-bed system will connect to Busan, Hong Kong and Tokyo are also planned.
Each founder will own a 50 percent stake in the joint venture and invest around RUB 6 billion.
Rostelecom started to carry out the project Tea Next in 2020. The deployment of the line connecting Moscow, St Petersburg and the Latvian-Russian border was started.
The whole investment is expected to amount to USD 650 million by the end of 2025.
The capacity of the backbone line will total 96 dark fibres, which can be used by international operators and global OTT companies for traffic transit between Europe and Asia. ULL (Ultra Low Loss) dark fibres are used in deploying the backbone line.
