MOSCOW (Reuters) – Several Russian telecoms operators have warned the government of rising tariffs and weaker infrastructure investment after it withdrew subsidised rates for new base station connections.
Russia’s Energy Minister dismissed the complaints, which were reported by the RBC newspaper, saying the cost of connecting new facilities to the power grid was “preferential”.
RBC reported on Thursday that several of Russia’s largest companies wrote to the Digital and Communications Ministry to complain about a dramatic increase last July in the costs of connecting base stations to the country’s power grid.
Russia ended a subsidised rate of 550 roubles ($6.73) for connecting facilities with a capacity of up to 15 kilowatts (KW) to the power grid, setting a new price of 3,000 roubles per KW.
The letter, signed by MTS, Megafon and Beeline as well as two network infrastructure providers, said subscription costs for consumers would have to rise and the pace of building new networks would dip if the policy was not reversed.
The operators said the higher prices had meant the cost of connecting new houses had jumped significantly.
Megafon and MTS declined to comment.
Russia’s Digital Ministry and Beeline did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
The dispute is the latest between network operators and the Russian government over prices for consumers as the industry reels from the impact of Western sanctions.
Russia’s competition watchdog said last year that above-inflation price rises by several network operators violated anti-monopoly rules.
Meanwhile several foreign equipment providers, including Nokia and Ericsson, have pulled out of the market.
Senior telecoms executives and other industry sources told Reuters late last year that this could cripple Russia’s mobile networks over the long term
RBC quoted a Megafon representative as saying that the potential for developing communication networks in Russia was “significantly” reduced.
($1 = 81.6725 roubles)
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Jake Cordell; Editing by Alexander Smith)