Telecom operators will be obliged to share infrastructure along federal highways

The Ministry of Digital Development is preparing for the second reading amendments to the bill on the sharing of frequencies and base stations by telecom operators in small towns. They will also oblige operators to share infrastructure along federal highways. Operators fear that providing other companies with access to networks will require additional capacity and additional costs. Experts also add that the necessary level of coverage is already provided on key routes, in contrast, for example, to regional roads.

Kommersant’s sources in the market said that the Ministry of Digital Transformation is discussing with the industry the expansion of the requirements of the bill on the sharing of frequencies and base stations in small towns to roads. We are talking about amendments to the law “On Communications”, which the State Duma Committee on Communications and IT introduced to the State Duma in July 2022. In accordance with them, a telecom operator providing services on the territory of at least two-thirds of the settlement included in the list of the Ministry of Digital Development must conclude an agreement on the joint use of the frequency spectrum and base stations (BS) with another operator that has the appropriate communication license. The initiative is aimed at providing communication services to settlements with a population of 500 to 1 thousand people, their list is compiled by the Ministry of Digital Development. The document was adopted in the first reading on June 1.

As part of the amendments to the second reading, the requirements are planned to be expanded to sections of federal highways, the Ministry of Digital Transformation confirmed: “Specific criteria for selecting sections of roads where communication services are now provided by one operator, and including them in the list for sharing communication facilities will be determined by a government decree.” MTS, VimpelCom, Tele2, MegaFon declined to comment.

In March 2022, as a support measure for operators, the Ministry of Digital Resources released them from their obligations to cover federal highways and settlements with more than 1,000 people with LTE networks. This requirement was one of the conditions for a ten-year extension of permits for the use of 800 MHz and 2600 MHz frequencies for LTE networks.

Now the authorities want to return to the need to provide coverage on federal highways, but the main task is to optimize the use of infrastructure, says one of Kommersant’s sources. According to him, problems with the supply of equipment persist: “There are many intermediaries on the market who can bring equipment from Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, but are not able to guarantee its operation and software activation licenses.”

Sources of Kommersant in the industry admit that due to the necessary approvals, consideration of the bill may be postponed until autumn: “It is important to clarify the criteria for the uniqueness of the BS along the road, which are also relevant for settlements, since access by other operators will require additional equipment, obtaining additional licenses” .

Another interlocutor notes that operators in general are opposed to making infrastructure sharing on highways mandatory: “Construction of networks along roads is more expensive than in settlements, so the issues of BS sharing agreements should be left to industry self-regulation.” It is difficult to agree on the placement of equipment with Avtodor, another Kommersant source clarifies: “The key problem is connecting to the energy infrastructure along the highways, which is designed only for lighting.” Therefore, he adds, operators prefer to use the infrastructure of nearby communities.

At the same time, there are almost no problems with coverage of federal highways as such, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily, while the situation with regional roads is much worse: “Operators will not invest in the development of networks there, because they will not receive a return.” In his opinion, the issue of covering regional highways from the point of view of regulation is now more acute than federal ones. Often there is not even voice communication there, the expert emphasizes, so “it is worth obliging operators to build and share infrastructure just on regional roads.”

Julia Silence