Homeless communication – Newspaper Kommersant No. 211 (7412) dated 11/15/2022
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The adoption of two bills to simplify the access of telecom operators to the infrastructure of apartment buildings and to municipal facilities is postponed until 2023. The reason was the difficulty in coordinating, in particular, the Ministry of Construction. The Ministry of Digital Development expects to finalize the initiatives, taking into account the opinions of all interested parties. The operators themselves no longer count on an improvement in the situation: the measures stipulated by the bills have been discussed for more than five years.
The working group on regulatory regulation of ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika at a meeting on November 11 postponed for a year the execution of two points of the federal project “Regulatory regulation of the digital environment” of the national program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation”, related to simplifying the access of operators to the infrastructure of residential buildings and placing communication equipment on municipal property , sources told Kommersant.
We are talking about two groups of amendments to the law “On Communications”. Some introduce rules for operators to access state infrastructure (buildings, structures, roofs and supports) suitable for placing networks, with the obligation to provide it. The latter provide, during the construction or reconstruction of apartment buildings, access to the premises of at least two operators not associated with the developer or management company (see Kommersant of October 13). Both documents were developed by the Ministry of Digital Development.
Analyst Director of the ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika Karen Kazaryan confirmed that the issue was indeed considered by the working group. According to him, the postponement of the deadlines for 2023 is due to “the need for additional elaboration of initiatives.” Kommersant’s interlocutors who participated in the meeting explained that the bills were postponed due to “difficulties in coordinating.” One of the sources specified that the draft law on operators’ access to municipal facilities raised questions from the Ministry of Construction. The ministry did not respond to Kommersant’s request.
The Ministry of Digital Development told Kommersant that in terms of unified rules for access of telecom operators to state and municipal infrastructure, the bill has already been finalized on the comments of the state legal department of the president and sent for approval to interested departments. “The bill on access to communications infrastructure in apartment buildings affects not only the communications industry, but also concerns construction issues, therefore, it required detailed consideration for compliance with antitrust laws,” the ministry added. According to the proposed changes, the postponement of the date “is a preventive measure while development goes according to plan,” the Ministry of Digital Development explained.
The access of operators to municipal property has been discussed since 2015, when the corresponding amendments were prepared by the ministry. In the spring of 2022, the initiative appeared already as part of measures to support the economy in the face of sanctions (see Kommersant of April 22).
The bill, which regulates the access of communication providers to new buildings and houses under renovation, is intended to guarantee the creation of the necessary communication infrastructure. Non-discriminatory access of operators to the infrastructure of ready-made apartment buildings should be regulated by another bill, which has been under consideration in the State Duma since 2018. According to it, management companies must provide operators with access to the premises free of charge. Now they can set an access fee, and in order to receive it, operators must obtain the consent of two-thirds of the homeowners. Vimpelcom, MTS, MegaFon and ER-Telecom declined to comment.
Without establishing clear rules for the interaction between management companies and operators, any initiatives will be of little use, a source in one of the telecom operators believes. In his opinion, the solution of issues related to the simplification of access may take more than one year: “Delay in placing the infrastructure of two or more operators not associated with the developer in the houses will negatively affect subscribers, as they will have to overpay for access services to the Internet from monopoly providers. The Ministry of Construction is not interested in adopting a new regulation, since it creates an additional burden on developers and management companies, Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily, believes, for example, by providing technical conditions for entering the houses of telecom operators.
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