In September 2026, about 150 residents of three rural settlements in Nizhny Novgorod Region gained access to mobile communications and the internet: base stations were installed in the villages of Sobolikha and Maly Sukhodol in Gorodets Municipal Okrug, as well as in the selo of Panfilovo in the Arzamas urban okrug.[1][2]

Connection mechanism

The equipment was installed as part of the national project "Economy of Data and Digital Transformation of the State", which operates on the instruction of the President of Russia.[1] The direct instrument was a regional investment tax deduction program for telecom operators: participating companies may recover up to 90% of the amount invested through the corporate profit tax, provided they develop their networks in small settlements or along public roads of regional significance.[3][4]

The investment tax deduction program has been in effect since 2025. By the end of 2025, it had brought three new domestically produced base stations to the Region; by the end of September 2026, their total number had reached nine, with six stations commissioned in 2026.[3] The results of the connection were reported by Aleksandr Sinelobov, Minister of Digital Development and Communications of Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1][5]

The "Bridging the Digital Divide 2.0" program

Simultaneously with the commissioning of new stations in the Region, voting was held on the federal program "Eliminating the Digital Divide 2.0" (UTsN 2.0). Based on its results, base stations with domestically produced "BULAT" LTE equipment were planned to be installed in 2027 in the settlements that gathered the most votes.[2][5] Villages, selos, and settlements with populations of 100 to 1,000 people were eligible to take part in the voting; votes were accepted until November 8, 2026, via the Gosuslugi portal or by postal letter to the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia.[1][3]

Sources

  1. Vremya N — Residents of three more Nizhny Novgorod villages gained access to communications and the internet in September
  2. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Residents of three more Nizhny Novgorod villages gained access to mobile communications Nizhny Novgorod News
  3. Business News. Time to Earn — Three more Nizhny Novgorod villages connected to mobile communications and the internet
  4. Nizhegorodskie Novosti — In September, residents of three more Nizhny Novgorod villages gained access to the internet (archive)
  5. Newsroom24 — Residents of three villages in Nizhny Novgorod Region gained communications and internet — Society