As touched upon above (see Industry and Trade), the IT market is one of the most dynamic sectors of Russian industry. Overall, the IT industry has achieved growth rates of 30-40% per year since 2000, with an impressive 54% increase in 2006 alone. Network integration accounts for the largest share of the IT market (in terms of total revenue), with other sub-sectors of importance being offshore programming, software development outsourcing, and general software exports.

As is the case with the banking sector, Russia’s telecommunications industry is gradually catching up to the size and maturity of the rest of the Western world. As of the end of 2007, there were nearly 5 million broadband lines in Russia, 72% of which were lines via cable modem, the rest being DSL. Industry experts are now reporting a 100% mobile telephone penetration rate (an achievement credited to the government’s active steps toward improving the conditions for market-based competition) with the year 2004 being a particularly booming year for domestic IT expansion, the number of cellular subscribers doubling from 36.5 million to over 74 million. During that same year, Russia also surpassed Germany, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom to become the largest mobile market in Europe.

While there has been a good deal of talk throughout early 2008 about a national broadband network, one is not yet in place, and internet penetration rates are still low relative to other European nations. By the end of 2007, broadband penetration rates in Russia was estimated at only 3.2%—although it must be born in mind that a sizeable portion of the Russian population still lives outside major, metropolitan areas. In addition, a rate of only 3.2% still amounts to a gross total of tens of millions of people. Based on current market estimates and expectations of sustained future growth, the number of broadband subscriptions in Russia is expected to reach nearly 24 million by the end of 2012.