Temporary fix: subscribers of closing providers will retain Internet access
Subscribers of Internet service providers who stop working will retain access to the Network. To avoid service disruptions, contracts with their customers will be transferred to major operators. The Ministry of Finance plans to introduce such a rule into the law "On Communications". The measure is timely, according to market participants. According to their concerns, due to the upcoming licensing reform of communication services, many small telecom companies may stop working. The conditions for obtaining licenses will be tightened, and not all providers will be able to meet the new requirements, experts say.
Who will serve subscribers deprived of provider licenses
If the provider is terminated or its license is revoked, subscribers will be transferred to a major telecom operator. This follows from the reference materials for the draft amendments to the law "On Communications", which are currently being worked out in the Ministry of Finance. Izvestia has reviewed the document.
According to the materials, the networks of the closed provider, numbering, radio frequencies, as well as rights and obligations under contracts with subscribers, including payment obligations, will be temporarily managed by the company holding general and universal licenses for communication services. The operator who transmits all this will have to ensure the safety of the network and prevent it from shutting down. In addition, he should first be offered to buy out the infrastructure of the closed company.
The interdepartmental commission will appoint the managing operator. At the same time, the reference materials do not specify which departments will be included in its composition and by what criteria it will choose the operator.
The final version of the document is not ready yet, and a mechanism is currently being discussed that guarantees citizens access to communication services in the event of an operator's termination or cancellation of its license, the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia.
— The mechanism involves the identification of an operator who will ensure the continuity of communication services. Such a company can be determined by the operator himself, who stops working, or an authorized state body will do it for him. For the uninterrupted provision of services, it may be necessary to temporarily transfer the elements of the communication network to management. The detailed conditions of this procedure will be set by the government," the Ministry of Finance said.
The agency explained that the mechanism is designed to protect subscribers and ensure the continuity of communication services. It is not aimed at reducing the number of small operators or limiting competition, and by itself does not imply changes in tariffs and other terms of service for existing subscribers.
The upcoming legislative initiatives should guarantee the quality, accessibility and security of communication services while maintaining fair competition, the ministry added.
In general, the upcoming amendments to the law "On Communications" provide for the licensing reform of the industry, which officials and market participants have been discussing since the spring of 2026. Some industry representatives fear stricter regulations: in their opinion, not all small operators will be able to meet the new requirements.
So, according to the documents, licenses will be issued only to legal entities. The licenses of individual entrepreneurs will expire on March 1, 2028. The share of the company's revenue from communication services will have to be at least 50%. In addition, the operator's annual contribution to the universal service reserve should reach at least 1 million rubles, and the authorized capital should be 30 million rubles. Such parameters were given in the previously presented presentation of Rostelecom.
Due to the new requirements, independent local providers may disappear in dozens of regions, which will not be able to meet the increased financial and regulatory requirements, industry associations warned earlier. In turn, the head of the Ministry of Finance, Maksut Shadaev, emphasized: the key task of the reform is to ensure national information security and combat unscrupulous players, including operators who do not comply with the requirements for the system of operational investigative measures (SORM).
The large telecom business has already reacted to the upcoming changes. So, in October of this year, Rostelecom offered small operators to conclude a service agreement and work as partners. According to the proposed scheme, the state operator will serve subscribers of small providers under its own brand, assuming regulatory, operational and commercial risks. Former service providers will focus on maintaining the lines to which their former subscribers are connected and attracting new customers. They will receive payment from the state operator for this work. In addition, he plans to offer additional services to users who have joined him and solve cybersecurity issues, according to the company's presentation.
Perhaps this decision reflects a reaction to the growing risks of Internet access disruptions and increased threats to the information security of citizens, businesses, social and government institutions, said Alkhas Mirzabekov, General Director of JSC YESK.
— However, temporary management should be introduced as an extreme non-market measure. If the violation can be eliminated, the operator must be given time and a clear list of requirements. Otherwise, the mechanism, formally designed to protect subscribers, will actually lead to the monopolization of the market through the forced transfer of assets to large operators, with all the negative consequences for the industry, residents and the innovative development of the country," he believes.
Representatives of major Russian operators did not respond to requests from Izvestia.
What difficulties can large operators face?
If the license of a provider in a village is revoked, subscribers risk being left without communication. At the same time, there is often no other operator in such a territory, says Oleg Yablokov, an NTI expert on wireless communications.
— The managing operator closes this gap. The goal is correct: the network continues to work, the contract with the subscriber passes to another company, and payments are received there. If everything works out, the person will hardly notice the change of operator," he explained.
In the private sector, 1-3 subscribers account for an average of 1 km of cable, the expert continued. According to him, it is unprofitable to maintain such a network for reimbursement of expenses of a large company, as well as to buy it. The situation is different in apartment buildings.: there is already a wiring and subscribers who regularly pay for communication services.
However, the managing operator needs to integrate any foreign network into its own billing and subscriber accounting systems, as well as ensure compliance with SORM requirements, the expert explained. If the previous owner does not have order in the network documentation and equipment accounting, the managing operator receives a "black box," he warned.
According to the draft, the managing operator will be appointed by an interdepartmental commission. According to Oleg Yablokov, it is advisable to transfer the final decision on the fate of the operator's network, which has lost its license, to the arbitration court. According to him, this is what the market participants themselves are trying to achieve.
For 35 years, communications companies have been developing the Internet technology market, paying taxes and contributions to the universal service reserve, and creating tens of thousands of jobs, Alkhas Mirzabekov said. According to him, they expect to be treated fairly for their contribution to the formation and development of the country's digital strategy.
"By destroying small and medium—sized enterprises, we will lose the ground for the emergence of large companies and undermine trust between business and the state," the expert emphasized.
Formally, the regulator seeks to protect subscribers of operators caught in violation of regulatory requirements from loss of communication. However, the industry already has a well-established mechanism for issuing orders to eliminate violations by relevant agencies, said Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNews Research. According to him, the Ministry of Finance's intention to legalize the extrajudicial transfer of networks is of particular concern to the operator community. At the same time, it will not be easy to implement such an initiative.
In the 2000s, when large fixed-line operators acquired regional providers, the integration of each asset took many months, and sometimes more than a year, the expert recalled. Each provider has its own equipment, architecture, and network management system, as well as its own billing system, he said.
The integration of all this infrastructure will require significant investments from the managing operator. In addition, during the transfer, many subscribers who switched to it may simply leave for other service providers, the expert concluded.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
