The Commission of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on IT, which includes the largest telecom operators, warned that against the background of sanctions, the reserves of operators’ equipment will last for six months, which in the future may lead to communication failures, Kommersant reports. The commission includes representatives of MTS, MegaFon, Vimpelcom, ER-Telecom, Russian Railways and others.
From the document, which the publication has read, it follows that due to the departure of Western suppliers and the fall in the ruble exchange rate, the cost of telecom equipment has increased by 40% and may increase by another 80%. The operators warned that the only way to keep the infrastructure operational is to curtail all development plans and use previously purchased equipment in order to maintain the stability of the network. At the same time, the risk of accidents and disruption of the stability of the network will increase from July-August, they predict.
In this regard, the operators offered the government to provide additional support to the industry — to impose a moratorium on contributions to the universal communication services fund for 2022, to reduce the fee for the radio frequency spectrum and lower taxes.
“Business receives whole packages of support measures from the state. It is important to understand that the efficiency of a business depends not only on preferences from the state, but also on the decisions of the enterprises themselves,” the Ministry of Finance commented.