Sharing digital infrastructure use by mobile providers: Investment solutions for sparsely populated territories of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The article considers a mechanism of managerial strategic decisions development aimed at overcoming the digital divide in the elaboration of Russian regions through the formation and use of telecommunications infrastructure in small towns. The regions of the Arctic with absence or underrepresented digital infrastructure are selected as the object of study. Understood as a system of interaction between organizational and telecommunication subsystems, it is considered as a management tool to ensure equable functioning and development of the information space. For the purposes of this study, attention is focused on the study of its main component — mobile communication networks. The study resulted in a model for planning investment decisions based on the development of hybrid financing of telecommunications projects through the sharing of digital infrastructure by mobile communication providers. The article substantiates the approach based on planning strategies for joint activities of investors — mobile operators, which allows reducing the burden on the state budget and attracting private capital to the development of a sparsely populated area. As the main method of research, the method of grouping the population according to the density of settlement is used. On the game theory basis, strategies for joint planning and network behavior of investors are determined, eliminating digital gaps and disproportions in the development of Russian localities and regions as a whole. It is concluded that partnership as a management tool, especially, planning the development of digital infrastructure in small towns, is the most effective way to reduce investment risks for all parties, and its adaptation to the specifics of territories is a key task of management in the field of information and communication technologies.