To demolish cell towers near schools, they want to involve the Ministry of Digital Development

The dismantling of cell towers on the roofs of educational and administrative institutions may require the approval of the Ministry of Digital Development. A group of deputies from the LDPR faction submitted the relevant amendments to the law “On Communications” to the State Duma on April 28, 2023. According to the bill, the department will have to issue an opinion on the possibility of dismantling base stations (BS) without violating the integrity of the network, and the operator will be able to receive a deferral for the transfer of equipment up to two years.

The bill proposes “to oblige the owners to carry out a mandatory pre-trial procedure,” the explanatory note to the bill says. As part of this procedure, it is necessary to obtain the conclusion of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Russia, how the dismantling of the equipment will or will not affect “the functioning of the communication network of the telecom operator and the availability of communication services to the population.” In particular, it is necessary to take into account the possibility of calling emergency operational services, as indicated in the document. We are talking only about base stations installed legally.

The introduction of the bill is being implemented on behalf of the President following the meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, which took place on July 18, 2022. In accordance with it, the task of establishing the obligatory approval of state authorities and local governments with the Ministry of Digital Development of requirements for operators on the dismantling of telecommunications equipment is defined placed on objects of the state and municipal property.

About the development of a bill that would prohibit the dismantling of cell towers from such facilities without a visa from the Ministry of Digital Development, Vedomosti wrote in March 2023, citing sources. The development of the initiative was carried out at the site of ANO Tsifrovaya ekonomika.

This is the same bill, the co-author of the bill, State Duma deputy Andrei Svintsov (LDPR), confirmed to Vedomosti. “The bill was widely discussed, it was seen by both operators and deputies, it was supported by the Ministry of Digital Development, it is verified, updated,” the deputy noted. Svintsov hopes that the bill will be adopted by the State Duma before the end of the spring session.

“Digital Economy supports the bill. This issue was also considered at the working group in ANO,” a representative of the association told Vedomosti.

The bill will allow the Ministry of Digital Transformation to track plans for dismantling and prevent a decrease in the quality of communication, a representative of the department said. According to him, in practice, building owners often make decisions based not on the threat of harm to the health of citizens, but in connection with the construction of another facility, repairs, etc.

“If we do not agree on the dismantling, the property owner will be able to go to court. If the court deems the dismantling necessary, the operator will have 24 months to relocate his equipment. This is important, since the search, design of sites and the placement of base stations on them require significant time and material costs, especially in the city, ”said the representative of the Ministry of Digital Development.

The problem of dismantling towers from government facilities – primarily from educational institutions (schools, universities, etc.) – has been publicly discussed since the end of 2021. At that time, Rospotrebnadzor began to carry out massive inspections and require operators to dismantle the towers on the territories of educational institutions. The service referred to the SanPiN norm, which has been in force since 2010.

Representatives of the “Big Four” operators support the idea to involve the relevant department in coordinating the dismantling.

“We support the bill and consider it extremely important for the participation of the Ministry of Digital Transformation in coordinating the dismantling of the BS. The dismantling of already operating equipment and the need to restructure the network architecture entails significant costs for telecom operators, which is irrational against the background of the problems that telecom faced due to the departure of foreign vendors, ”says a Tele2 representative.

The dismantling of base stations often leads to a deterioration in the quality of communication not only at the state facilities themselves, but also in the surrounding areas, a representative of MegaFon said. Some of them cannot be dismantled without damage. [для сети]emphasized the representative MTS.

“A ban on the dismantling and relocation of base stations and other elements of communication networks, as well as a moratorium on increasing the placement fee would be the right steps to ensure their smooth functioning,” added a representative of VimpelCom (brand “Beeline“).

Now Roskomnadzor is issuing permission to put the BS into operation, and is also making a decision on dismantling, explains Telecom Daily CEO Denis Kuskov. However, it is important to note that the operators installed the BS in accordance with the legislation in force at that time, the expert points out. Their removal must be justified by new regulations, he specified.

Vedomosti sent a request to Roskomnadzor.

For the operator, each such dismantling requires not only planning, financing and dismantling, but also adds a cycle of work to find a new place to install the dismantled equipment with all the necessary work to plan and deploy a new site, Alexey Boyko, an analyst at MForum, lists. The failure of even one BS can significantly change the quality of coverage and service delivery for several thousand people who live around, notes Kuskov.

The cost of dismantling base stations per year can reach hundreds of millions of rubles, the expert estimates. The obligation to agree with the Ministry of Digital Development on the possibility of postponing work on dismantling and searching for new sites will allow operators to fulfill the requirements of Rospotrebnadzor not in the rush format, but gradually, in working mode, Boyko concluded.