RASCOM is turning 30. The secret of success

On June 8 RASCOM will celebrate its 30-years anniversary. Such a significant date is affirming the company’s success and stability. Therefore COMNEWS interviewed CEO of RASCOM, Denis Ganza.

Denis Aleksandrovich, would you, please, amplify a little, what is RASCOM nowadays, what  has it achieved in 30 years?

Nowadays RASCOM is an international communications service provider that captures a significant  share in the telecommunications services market and transmits more than 50% of the international traffic of the Russian Federation through its network. 

Signature achievements of the company are: its own network of 26000 km that is built up on the modern equipment as well as busy clientele that includes a great many of national and international companies. 

What companies are RASCOM’s customers? Does your company work with corporative customers? 

RASCOM has quite a wide list of customers; in particular, there are TOP-10 telecom giants in Russian Federation as well as the biggest media holdings among our customers. 

We are working with corporate customers but only with major ones. Most commonly corporate customers use internet transit service together with info security option that is protecting the customer’s network from hacker attacks. 

Which RASCOM services are the most demanded? Is the company available to provide innovative services, such as cloud ones?

RASCOM core services are leasing of international and national telecommunication circuits of high capacity and internet transit. In addition to these services RASCOM is providing its customers with a number of services and options that allows using the core services more efficiently. Among these is protected connection via dedicated circuits to such cloud providers as Amazon Direct Connect, Microsoft Azure Express Route, Google Cloud Platform, IBM SoftLayer, Oracle FastConnect, Yandex Cloud and others. 

How customers’ requirements for services have changed in 30 years?

30 years is a long run and the changes are also considerable. Increasing level of competition and growth of technologies have provided the customers with ability to raise their demands on the quality of purchased services as well as the conditions of their organization. There have been changes in requirements for circuit capacity, latency, time of service arrangement, response time and many others. For instance, in the 90s there was a low demand in 1 Gbps circuits, as there was no need in such a high capacity. Today the customers are using 10 and 100 Gbps circuits, and what's interesting is that most part of leased capacity is 100 Gbps circuits, and its share keeps growing year by year. 

In the distant 90s your company started its operation with provision of services on the route Saint Petersburg – Moscow. What is the geography of services provided by the company now?

Yes, we started with two systems on the section Moscow – Saint Petersburg with total capacity 310 Mbps. As early as in 1996 RASCOM entered the international arena by building the network from Saint Petersburg to the state boarder with Finland, and in 2005 the company built the network communication centers in Stockholm and Frankfurt. So far RASCOM has more than 50 network communication centers and more than 100 points of presence. The major goal and strategy of the company has been and still is to ensure the operation of more and more new routes from Russia to the main centers of traffic concentration that are located in Frankfurt, Stockholm, Amsterdam and London. In a phased manner according to growing demands of the customers we are expanding the capacity of already existing routes and building the new ones. 

What is your assessment of free capacity of your company’s network? Does RASCOM have enough resources of its transit network?

RASCOM annually modernizes and expands its network, taking into account the directions in demand on the service market, thereby renewing the stocks of capacity.

Each section of the network has different stock of capacity. For example, there are 4 (four) operating DWDM systems on the section from Saint Petersburg to Moscow as well as from Saint Petersburg to Stockholm and Frankfurt which have enough free capacity on each section of the network.

There are enough resources, despite the constant growth of demand for our services. Availability of free capacity not only allows us to provide services to customers, but also it allows us to provide services in the shortest possible time, up to 2 weeks. In our practice, there were cases of organizing services in a shorter time. For example, during the beginning of the coronavirus quarantine, Internet traffic began to grow sharply and a large Russian operator contacted us with a request to organize a channel capacity of 1Tbps from Moscow to Stockholm as soon as possible. We completed this task in one day.

Does RASCOM use third-party investments in building or builds the network at its private expense? How much RASCOM approximately invests in development during the year?

We do not use external borrowings - neither third-party investments, nor loans – it feels unnecessary. We are investing company’s own funds in the building. Different amounts are used in different years, they are determined by the company's development strategy adopted for this year.

Which manufacturers' equipment is used on the RASCOM network? Do you plan to expand the list of equipment suppliers?

There is equipment of such manufacturers as Ciena, ADVA, Juniper, Extreme, Cisco that is used on the RASCOM network. The quality and technological effectiveness of the installed equipment suits us, still due to current global-common political circumstances there are some difficulties that emerge in relation to supplies from some manufacturers, this is why we are going to review and choose the alternatives in the near future.

Recently, your company has put into operation a section of the network from Moscow to the State border with Azerbaijan. Do other operators have a similar capacity that creates competition for RASCOM?

Yes, there are other carriers that are working in this direction, there is a competition, but this aspect has never prevented RASCOM from its development. Our services are competitively viable that allows us running our business successfully. 

What opportunities has the launching of a new section of the network created for the company and service consumers?

RASCOM has expanded and improved the reliability of its network and created new opportunities for development of its clientele. We can organize the circuits from Russia to Europe via Türkiye and Bulgaria through this new section of the network; this allows us creating additional redundancy protection of the Northern routes. The service consumers, in their turn, will use our company’s services of even better quality due to implementation of this project.

Denis Aleksandrovich, what distinguishes the company from the rest market players, what allows keeping competitive performance? 

As I have already mentioned regarding our network, foremost, these are service organization terms, they are optimally short, i.e. 2 weeks. The reason is the availability of free capacity that is prepared for the organization of services, as well as the consistency of business processes and logistics: from the execution of an agreement to customer's connection to the service. Another advantage is the ability to organize low latency circuits to many big cities of Europe, where RASCOM has interfaces with European operators and traffic exchange points (IX), and of course round-the-clock 24/7 technical support for all the services. 

What are the areas for RASCOM’s development for the nearest years?

Launching the section of the network from Moscow to the Russian-Azerbaijani boarder is the first stage of the development strategy for the nearest years. We are going to develop our network in this area by growing the volume and expanding the range of services provided. Also the company’s plans include adding new services that we will introduce in a phased manner throughout the territory of our presence.

Despite the difficult business conditions that have developed around the world today, we look to the future with confidence and will continue to be a reliable provider of quality services and a business partner for all our current and future customers.

What is the key to RASCOM’s success, what makes the company one of the leaders in the services market?

In my opinion, the 30-year success of the company is the result of clear strategic planning, the right choice of technologies used and, most importantly, the high professionalism of employees, those people who make this choice and shape this planning, who implement, build and maintain our network, create new products.

I am grateful to the close-knit team of the company for initiatives and effective work, which for many years have been steadily increasing the position of RASCOM in the Russian and international telecommunications service market.

Link to the source - https://www.comnews.ru/content/226554/2023-06-08/2023-w23/raskomu-30-sekret-uspekha