Ivan Prokopiev General Director of the company 'Summa Telecom' Country: Russia

Biography of Ivan Prokopiev

Ivan Prokopiev, the CEO of Summa Telecom, was born in 1961 in Podolsk, Moscow region. He graduated from the Radio Engineering Faculty of the S.O. Makarov Leningrad Higher Engineering and Maritime School in 1984. Immediately after completing his studies, Prokopiev joined the Northern Maritime Shipping as the head of the local radio station, a position he held for 10 years until 1994.

In 1996, Ivan became the director of projects at the Russian representation of the international giant Ericsson. In 2002, he moved to OJSC MegaFon, initially as one of the leading specialists and later as the CEO of MegaFon-Siberia. He was later promoted to the position of advisor to the CEO of MegaFon.

From 2006 to 2007, Prokopiev worked as the director of mobile communications at OAO SV-Kapital. In 2007, he joined the closed joint-stock company Eventis Telecom, and in 2008, he became the CEO of Summa Telecom. Interestingly, the St. Petersburg office of the company is also headed by another former MegaFon employee, Andrey Polunin. According to internal sources, this coincidence is not accidental, as the creation of Summa Telecom was initiated by a group of telecom specialists who had previously worked on the establishment of MegaFon.

Summa Telecom has established itself as a rapidly developing player in the modern telecommunications market. Although the company temporarily suspended its development program, in 2009, the management made it clear that they have ambitious plans. Unlike many competitors who focus on expanding their coverage area and increasing the number of subscribers, Summa Telecom emphasizes the implementation of new technologies such as broadband internet access networks. The company also explored other innovations, including WiMAX and TETRA technologies. Unfortunately, the necessary radio frequencies for TETRA were not allocated to the company. Similarly, the WiMAX project faced challenges, but there is a possibility that these projects will be revived in the future through regional frequency distribution competitions.

Fortunately, the development of broadband access networks encounters fewer obstacles. In 2009 alone, Summa Telecom planned to build networks in ten different regions, including Voronezh, Krasnodar, Lipetsk, Makhachkala, Oryol, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Tver, and Tula. The company did not stop there and had plans to continue infrastructure development in the Central Federal District and begin construction in Siberia.

Despite the demands of his work, Ivan Prokopiev finds time for personal enjoyment. At home, the CEO has two four-year-old Rottweilers named Motya and Yakut. The dogs spend most of their time outdoors, but last summer's abnormal heat proved challenging for them. To help them cope with the unexpected heat, Prokopiev gifted them a new swimming pool.