OREANDA-NEWS An underwater fiber-optic communication line with a capacity of up to 40 Gbit per second was launched in the Kuril Islands (Sakhalin region). Thanks to this, local residents have the opportunity to connect to high-speed Internet and cable TV, the press service of the regional government told journalists on Monday.

The laying of optical fiber on the bottom of the sea of Okhotsk was carried out within the framework of the Federal target program of socio-economic development of the Islands for 2016-2025. The total length of the communication line was about 850 kilometers. Federal budget funds (2.7 billion rubles) and Rostelecom (600 million rubles) were allocated for the construction.

According to the press service of the government of the Sakhalin region, today more than half of the residents of Kurilsk are connected to the Internet. In Yuzhno-Kurilsk, over 30 percent of residents have become Rostelecom subscribers.Until the end of February, it is planned to connect most of the houses in the villages of Krabozavodsk and Malokurilskoye on the island of Shikotan of The great Kuril ridge to the modern network. The total length of the line was about 850 km.

The press service with reference to the Vice-President - Director of the macro-regional branch of the far East of Rostelecom, Alexander Loginov, reported that tariffs for Internet and cable TV in the Kuriles do not differ from Sakhalin ones. "At the initiative of the regional authorities, we have changed the approach to pricing in the Kuril Islands. And today, residents of Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan use high - speed Internet and watch cable TV at affordable rates," the press service of Loginov quotes. The permanent population in the Kuriles is only on three Islands.

As specified in "Rostelecom", the line was launched in the Kuril Islands on December 25, 2018, but only in test mode. In February of this year, its final launch was announced. Recently, residents began to connect to tariff plans.

Rostelecom is a Federal operator providing wired and wireless telephony, broadband Internet access and pay-TV services.