Russia’s RSPP Commission for Communications and IT has warned of imminent large-scale service Internet service outages due to the lack of available telecom equipment.
With the western equipment suppliers exiting the market and not selling parts to Russian entities anymore, the first notable service outages may start as early as this summer.
Additionally, the price of equipment still available for purchase has risen by 40%, and if the ruble continues to depreciate, the economic complications for service providers will get even more severe.
“Capital expenditures of the largest telecom operators will grow from 390 billion rubles, in 2021 to 450 billion rubles, in 2022, even with the reduction of investment programs.” the commission stated.
To address the problems or at least mitigate their effects, RSPP has proposed the following measures to be submitted to the Russian Ministry of Digital Development:
- Impose a moratorium on contributions to the universal communication services fund for 2022
- Reduce fees for radio frequency spectrum by 50%
- Zero out the property tax rate and exempt the income of industry employees from taxes
However, Kommersant reports that it’s unlikely the ministry will take any radical action to address the issues raised by the IT union, which includes MTS, MegaFon, VimpelCom, ER-Telecom, GS Group, and the Russian Railways.
