During two separate conference sessions this morning at Capacity Russia in Moscow, representatives from the likes of Rostelecom, MegaFon and TTK took it in turn to dismiss the feasibility of the project, which aims to link London and Tokyo along an Arctic route through Russian territorial waters.
The project, which has been mooted for approximately 10 years and only received approval from the Russian government in October 2011, would potentially boast the shortest latency between Europe and Asia.
However, leading figures from within the Russian telecoms community questioned the high investment required for a project of this kind, as well as the high risk of cable cuts.
"There is still no indication when it (Polarnet Project) will start. It will require big investment and it will then require three years to prove its capability. I'm not sure it will be live in the near future", commented Alexander Yakovenko, deputy carrier business director at Rostelecom.
