The Ministry of Digital Development proposes to introduce new rules for interaction between telecom operators and management companies in apartment buildings

The Ministry of Digital Development proposes to introduce new rules for interaction between telecom operators and management companies (MCs) in apartment buildings. If providers need to install a communication network in a house or modernize it, the management company will coordinate projects and acts of network installation, and the timing of the work. Operators say there are additional costs to bring networks in individual homes up to standard specifications. The ministry estimates costs at up to 3 billion rubles. for six years. Experts believe that the work of companies with management companies will in any case become more complicated, and the time frame for making and processing decisions will lengthen. Management companies, for their part, consider the conditions “too favorable” for operators.

The Ministry of Digital Development proposes to introduce rules for the interaction of telecom operators with management companies in apartment buildings from September 1, 2024, follows from the draft resolution published on April 2 on the regulation.gov portal. The summary report to the package of documents states that the project is aimed at 5,154 Russian operators and 913,788 management companies, and the costs of compliance with regulation for players are estimated in the range of 300 million rubles. up to 3 billion rubles for six years.

It follows from the draft resolution that if providers need to install or upgrade a communication network in a home, they need to coordinate projects and installation acts with the management company. The operator may be refused to install or update equipment if the building is considered unsafe or if the building is scheduled for major repairs, the implementation of which is incompatible with the installation of networks.

The Ministry of Digital Development’s project complements the law on non-discriminatory access of operators to homes, which was approved by the Federation Council on April 3. The ministry explained to Kommersant that the document was developed “taking into account the proposals of operators and together with interested departments.”

VimpelCom told Kommersant that they are studying the ministry’s proposals. Rostelecom supports the initiative. MegaFon believes that it “will lead to increased competition in the fixed-line services market and will have a positive impact on the quality of services.” At the same time, MTS clarified that meeting the requirements will require expenses to bring communication networks in individual homes into compliance with standard technical requirements. ER-Telecom declined to comment.

The head of the Association of Small Telecom Operators, Dmitry Galushko, believes that the rules will worsen the conditions for new players to enter the market: “At each stage of approval, the management company may delay the approval of documents, and while the bureaucracy drags on, their own telecom operators will enter the house.”

“There is a need for approval, but at the same time, operators have much more chances to enter the house,” argues Alexey Slukin, editor of the specialized Telegram channel Telekommunalka. “It turns out that, on the one hand, providers will have more stringent limits on home infrastructure and connection to power grids. Criminal codes may interfere and not agree, but, on the other hand, delaying such processes can be challenged in court.”

Aleksey Boyko, an analyst at the specialized Telegram channel abloud62, rather shares the opinion of small operators, noting that the new rules only formally simplify the position of telecom operators by establishing the procedure for interaction with the management company: “In reality, more fuss is added with papers and procedures, while the management company retains the ability to insert a spoke in the wheels: for example, they can delay installation deadlines as much as possible without accepting work and documentation. This, for example, will make it possible to impose any services on operators.”

Meanwhile, the Criminal Code themselves are unhappy with the new rules. The Association of Companies Serving Real Estate (AKON, which unites more than 1 thousand management companies and homeowners associations) negatively evaluates the proposals of the Ministry of Digital Development, emphasizing that the rules and the adopted law as a whole do not meet the intentions stated during its development: “For example, judging by the requirements to the management organization, the providers require separate staff in the houses, these costs will fall on the residents, that is, the subscribers, but otherwise it will be impossible to fulfill all their requirements.” At the same time, AKON emphasizes that a meeting of residents may not allow the provider to enter, but residents must be notified about the meeting at least ten days before it is held, and the provider’s application must be approved five days in advance.

Alexey Zhabin, Tatyana Isakova