Russian Telecom Operators Request Official Clarification on YouTube Slowdown

On August 7, 2024, the “Rosteleset” association, which includes over 200 regional telecom operators, sent a letter to Maksut Shadayev, the Minister of Digital Development, and Andrey Lipov, the head of Roskomnadzor (RKN). The letter stated that subscribers of more than 135 regional telecom operators have started terminating contracts due to issues with YouTube and other Google services. The association confirmed the letter was sent and received by the intended recipients.

According to Kommersant, industry associations are asking the Ministry of Digital Development and Roskomnadzor to issue a unified official statement explaining the reasons for the slowdown of YouTube and the “uneven degradation” of the service among different telecom companies.

In its letter, Rosteleset reported that operators are facing “severe and uneven slowdowns” of YouTube, Google Search, and other Google services. As a result, the number of user complaints about providers has “increased significantly.”

Oleg Grishchenko, president of the association, said that the leadership has already received complaints from about 100 operators. Users blame their home internet providers for YouTube not working on home networks, while mobile users have no issues, leading many to terminate their contracts with home providers.

“The negative reaction towards operators amounts to thousands of complaints,” Grishchenko stated.

On August 8, 2024, the Association of Small Regional Telecom Operators (AMOR), which includes over 120 members, sent a similar letter to the Ministry of Digital Development and Roskomnadzor. AMOR emphasized that the slowdown is “sudden and chaotic among different operators across all regions,” causing operators to “lose their subscriber base en masse.” AMOR head Dmitry Galushko noted that they have received 35 complaints from operators, and in the past two weeks, over a thousand subscribers have said they are terminating contracts due to YouTube issues.

Galushko added that regional operators may feel the YouTube problems more acutely due to fewer international connections. “For mobile operators, TSPU is not between users and GGC, but in the same network segment—traffic from caches passes normally, and in some cases, YouTube may work,” Galushko explained.

Rosteleset’s letter also noted that due to the “lack of official statements in the media and published legal acts on the issue,” operators cannot explain the reasons for the measures to users. The association is asking the Ministry of Digital Development and Roskomnadzor to provide an official public explanation and to disseminate information about the reasons for the YouTube slowdown. They also request a competent investigation into the causes of the uneven degradation of YouTube and Google Search among different operators, despite the interconnectedness of these networks.

Recall that YouTube issues in Russia have been observed since late July 2024. In August 2024, widespread outages began, and many users could not access YouTube at all. More detailed chronology is provided below. The problems are also evident in Google’s official statistics. Additionally, there has been a rise in traffic transmitted through MSK-IX.

Timeline of Events

• Spring 2022: Google notified Russian providers about the shutdown of Google Global Cache (GGC) servers, which speed up access to Google services, including YouTube. At the start of 2022, there were about 700 GGC caching servers in Russian operators’ networks, expected to decrease to around 450 by the end of 2023.
• Late 2023: Konstantin Kolesov, Head of Strategic Data Transmission Development at PJSC VimpelCom (Beeline), stated at the MSK-IX Peering Forum that Google offered Russian operators to set up direct connections in Moscow or St. Petersburg to maintain quality access to its services, instead of relying on outdated and overloaded cache servers.
• July 12, 2024: Representatives of Rostelecom warned of possible technical issues with YouTube video loading speeds due to problems with Google Global Cache equipment used in the operator’s network infrastructure and peering points. These issues could affect all Russian operators’ subscribers.
• On the same day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented that Russian authorities do not plan to restrict access to YouTube and that the service’s difficulties are due to equipment problems. “We know from official statements by our companies that the issue is with equipment that hasn’t been updated for over two years. There can be no other explanation,” Peskov said.
• Also on July 12, Gazeta.ru reported, citing sources close to the presidential administration and law enforcement, that Russian authorities plan to fully block YouTube in September 2024.
• July 24, 2024: Rostelecom reported a decline in YouTube video loading quality, especially in high-resolution formats, and an increase in user complaints. The company again stated that Google is responsible, as it has not expanded or updated its equipment in Russia since 2022, leading to “wear and exhaustion of Google equipment capacity,” which cannot handle the increased internet traffic.
• July 25, 2024: Alexander Khinshtein, head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, said on Telegram that the “degradation” of YouTube is a forced measure, not against Russian users but against the foreign platform’s administration, which “continues to violate and ignore our laws.” He said YouTube loading speeds on desktops could drop by 40% by the end of the week and by 70% by the end of July.
• July 26, 2024: Roskomnadzor commented that the measures against YouTube are due to “disrespect for the country.” The agency added that it has enough tools to motivate the company in such situations. “Numerous violations of our laws and disrespect for our country and citizens are grounds for action against YouTube,” RKN stated.
• August 1, 2024: Widespread issues with YouTube began in Russia. Google representatives stated that the slowdown was not due to any technical problems or actions by the company. IT specialists again explained that video loading issues could be caused by traffic slowdowns related to TSPU (technical means of countering threats) equipment.
• August 8, 2024: YouTube almost completely stopped working on many Russian operators’ networks. According to Piter-IX CTO Vadim Yavorsky, Google traffic at Piter-IX peering points halved on August 1 and halved again on August 8. Media also reported that Roskomnadzor requested data from operators on the IP and physical locations of Google Global Cache servers.