MTS talked about the work of base stations in Antarctica

The most popular Russian base station among subscribers of foreign telecom operators is located in Antarctica at the Bellingshausen polar station, MTS found out after analyzing roaming services in its mobile network at three Russian polar stations in 2024.

Last year, 7,556 subscribers from 171 operators from 79 countries were registered in the company's network at Bellingshausen station. At the same time, during the "summer" season (which lasts in Antarctica from November to March), the number of guests increased more than a hundred times. The leaders in the number of subscribers and the volume of services consumed were the operators China Mobile (China), T-Mobile USA Inc. (USA), Smart Philippines (Philippines). The main services in demand by foreign subscribers were SMS and data transmission.

In 2024, 689 subscribers from 39 operators from 26 countries connected to MTS at Progress station. "This location is influenced by the proximity of the Chinese Antarctic Zhongshan station," the company explained, noting that due to this proximity, the largest volumes of services consumed and the number of subscribers are accounted for by Chinese operators China Mobile and China Unicom.

In addition, last year, 287 subscribers from 50 operators from 29 countries were registered in the MTS network at Novolazarevskaya station. The MTS network was in demand mainly from subscribers from India, who actively used voice services.

MTS is the only Russian telecom company that has deployed a mobile communications network in Antarctica. MTS provides communication and data transmission services to five year-round polar stations: Progress, Novolazarevskaya, Bellingshausen, Mirny and Vostok.