In the near future provision of fixed communication services will be directed to maintenance of current subscriber base and provision of value-added services. RUE Beltelecom's networks are developing on the basis of multiservice platform (IMS). As of April 1, 2024, the number of subscribers of the IMS platform amounted to more than 3.76 million.

IMS is IP multimedia subsystem, which is a solution for the transition from classical telecommunication technologies to IP-technologies. The IMS platform enables the development and provision of services to subscribers based on various combinations of voice, text, graphics and video.

The applied approaches to the construction of access networks require changes in the terminal equipment installed on the subscriber's side. To ensure a higher penetration of broadband access services, including VoIP services, subscribers have a modem (home gateway) equipped with various interfaces (analog telephone port, Ethernet port, Wi-Fi port, etc.) and providing both voice services ( VoIP) and telematic services (Internet access, IPTV, etc.).

Currently, subscribers are connected using the following technologies:

• Optical access network nodes based on GPON technology, built to provide telecommunication services to all subscribers of apartment buildings, primarily in urban settlements, as well as in residential blocks of new individual buildings. As of April 1, 2024 2,97 million subscribers of RUE Beltelecom were connected to the GPON network.
• DSLAM-type broadband access nodes introduced to provide communication services for network construction projects using copper cables in order to efficiently use the investments of RUE Beltelecom in the constructed subscriber network, primarily in rural telecommunication networks. The subscriber capacity of DSLAM nodes is used to provide a full range of broadband services.
• Universal access nodes that provide the ability to install subscriber sets with various interfaces: analog (POTS), broadband copper ADSL, VDSL, SHDSL interfaces, broadband GPON interfaces. This technical solution allows, by installing one access node with a single point of connection to the data transmission network, to meet the demand of subscribers for communication services, for additional multimedia services and applications provided by the IMS platform, etc.

GPON technology

In 2011, connection of subscribers of RUE Beltelecom was started using GPON technology. As of April 1, 2024, the number of subscribers connected to the GPON network of RUE Beltelecom reached 2.97 million.

When connecting subscribers, the optical cable is laid directly to the installation sites of the terminal subscriber equipment. This technology is used not only in the construction of new access networks, but also in the modernization of existing ones, for example, when releasing the installed capacity of electronic automatic telephone exchanges. The main goal of updating existing access networks is, first of all, the need to improve the quality and range of services provided by switching existing broadband access subscribers (xDSL) to a new technology (xPON).

The use of PON technology for the construction of subscriber access makes it possible to:

• provide subscribers with a wide bandwidth;
• expand broadcasting capabilities;
• increase the length of the subscriber line up to 20 km, optimize the distribution network and minimize its energy consumption (through the use of passive optical splitters);
• expand value-added services and increase the speed of data exchange traffic depending on the subscribers’ needs;
• unify the process of connecting and servicing subscribers due to the minimum use of active equipment.