MOSCOW, 22 December (BelTA) – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia has demanded that the relevant ministries of the two countries should fulfill the instruction to get rid of roaming in the Union State. Discussion about the matter took place during the 55th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia in Moscow on 22 December, BelTA has learned.
Belarusian Communications and Informatization Minister Konstantin Shulgan and Russian Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Minister Konstantin Noskov were invited to participate in the “government hour” of the session.
First Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko reminded that the presidents of Belarus and Russia had given instructions to cancel roaming charges for cellular calls inside the two countries. Vladimir Andreichenko told the ministers: “Instead of listening to explanations that traffic is expensive we would like to hear what you are going to do to fulfill the presidents' instructions.”
In turn, Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, Speaker of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin stated that it had been 1.5 years since the presidents gave the instruction. “If the instruction cannot be fulfilled, you need to submit a report to explain why the instruction should be rescinded or why its execution needs to be postponed. It has not been done. Since the instruction still stands, it needs to be fulfilled,” said Vyacheslav Volodin.
Addressing the MPs, Belarusian Communications and Informatization Minister Konstantin Shulgan remarked that cancelling roaming charges is a rather complicated matter. “But considering the social significance of the matter the ministers should not be swayed by mobile carriers,” he said.
Yet Konstantin Shulgan made it clear that calls will not be totally free once the roaming charges are scrapped. In his opinion, it is necessary to harmonize prices for communications services in the two countries. “Otherwise, we will see prerequisites for grey traffic,” he warned.
Russian Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Minister Konstantin Noskov explained that the lack of direct links between Belarusian and Russian mobile carriers is the main problem. Meanwhile, the prices for data Belarusian mobile carriers charge are some of the world's highest.
Konstantin Noskov also said that the relevant government agencies had come up with a roadmap on the matter, which will be agreed and signed in January 2019. The roadmap provides for setting symmetric rates on peering services in Belarus and Russia as early as February 2019. According to the official, the measure is supposed to result in lower end-consumer rates as early as in May 2019. “We hope to see fees for incoming calls of guest mobile carriers gone by mid-2019,” he said.
After a hot discussion the MPs decided to instruct the Union State Council of Ministers to inform the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia about the fulfillment of the presidents' instruction in Q1 2019. “The instruction is not open to debate. It has to be fulfilled,” concluded Vladimir Andreichenko.
