Private security company in touch – Newspaper Kommersant No. 200 (7401) dated 10/27/2022
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Telecom operators have criticized the initiative of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, according to which the requirements of anti-terrorist protection can apply not only to organizations subordinate to it, but also to all communication facilities. In particular, a number of communication centers will require armed guards, which will cost 5 million rubles. per year, according to the companies. The Mintsifra promises to take into account the comments, and some lawyers generally consider the fears of operators to be unfounded.
Kommersant got acquainted with the reviews of MTS and VimpelCom on the draft government decree developed by the Ministry of Digital Development, which introduces requirements for anti-terrorist protection of objects related to the ministry’s activities. Among them are security measures, the introduction of an access system, a video surveillance system, an alarm system, streamlining internal rules for responding to incoming threats, etc. The project was published for public discussion on October 3. It updates the requirements of a similar regulation from 2014.
The project extends the requirements not only to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Roskomnadzor and their subordinate organizations, but also to all objects “related to the scope of their activities”, that is, to the communication networks of operators, according to MTS and VimpelCom. According to the operators, such an extension is unreasonable and should only apply to those facilities that can be used by the Ministry of Digital Development for state needs. The companies specify that in the project the objects to be protected are divided into categories depending on the degree of threat of terrorist acts and their possible consequences. This, the companies fear, will lead to new costs.
So, if an object is classified in the first category in accordance with the new system, armed guards must be organized to ensure its protection. It costs about 5 million rubles. per year with the involvement of a private security company, VimpelCom notes. If the object requires guards, but without weapons, this will require 1 million rubles. per year, if we are talking about remote protection – 84 thousand rubles. per year, the company notes: “Operators’ networks consist of thousands of objects, and the costs will be significant, which is inappropriate either from the point of view of the effect, or from the point of view of the situation associated with an increase in the cost of equipment and work due to sanctions.”
According to the new requirements, objects related to the field of activity of the Ministry of Digital Transformation must also inform the security organization and authorized bodies about the detection of suspicious unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), vehicles, items, mail and other threats of committing a terrorist act at the object. But telecom operators do not have the means and competencies to detect UAVs, MTS and VimpelCom emphasize. They propose to transfer information “without specification”.
MTS and VimpelCom, as well as MegaFon and Tele2, declined to comment further. If the proposed requirements really apply to telecom operators, then they may need additional investments, confirms Yury Fedyukin, managing partner of Enterprise Legal Solutions: “It will be necessary to expand the scope of responsibility of existing specialists in specific divisions of companies or hire additional staff, which labor will be problematic.
However, some lawyers doubt the adequacy of the concerns of the companies, believing that in fact nothing in the document will change in essence. The current resolution already allows its requirements to be extended to organizations that are not subordinate to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, but related to the ministry’s field of activity, says Alexei Stankevich, partner at Orchards. In his opinion, the initiative does not carry “innovative provisions that could critically affect the communications industry.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Digital Resources assured Kommersant that the proposals of the operators were “partially taken into account”, and the corrected version of the draft would be sent for approval to the FSB, the Russian Guard, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee and the Ministry of Economy.
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