"The price level that we see is absolutely exorbitant,"

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Mikhail Telegin, Deputy Director General for Strategic Projects at Obit LLC, said this on the air of the Day. Main program on the RBC TV channel. He complained that infrastructure monopolists (energy companies, municipal lighting companies, telephone operators, etc.), whose facilities are in demand by telecom operators for laying cables, are constantly raising tariffs for telecom operators, and the latter's costs are growing sharply.

Mikhail Telegin said on air at RBC. "At the same time, if it comes to legal proceedings with these monopolists, then their tariffs are sharply reduced - sometimes even by 10-15 times."

He recalled that ove namibia whatsapp number database past month, tariffs for the placement of telecommunications cables in telephone ducts in Sevastopol have fallen sevenfold following legal proceedings: as a result of the case of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and JSC Sevastopol Telecom, the costdecreasedfrom 5.09 rubles to 1.07 rubles per month per kilometer.

"This is one of the few positive cases in all of Russia, while in a huge number of regions the cost of using infrastructure (cable ducts, lighting poles, power lines) for laying cables is prohibitive for the development of operator networks," Mikhail Telegin explained to ComNews.

The legislation does not regulate tariffs, but the FAS formed recommendations last year. "The FAS of Russia monitors pricing for the placement of communication networks. Thus, changes have been made to the rules of non-discriminatory access, and methodologicalrecommendationsformation of tariffs for the placement of communication networks. In addition, the service considered about 30 cases of violation of antimonopoly legislation. As a result of the implementation of the FAS Russia's orders, tariffs for infrastructure access services were reduced by two to nine times," a representative of the FAS press service told ComNews.

According to the recommendations, the monthly fee from the user may include the costs of current maintenance, repairs, and work related to major repairs. The infrastructure owner has the right to charge a one-time fee only in the case of completed work and incurred expenses. The recommendations include formulas for calculating the maximum economically justified tariff based on accounting data.

However, Mikhail Telegin believes that the recommendations do not work: "There are "gray" areas. In particular, costs are taken into account when forming the tariff, and in such cases a single coordinated approach is required." He believes that in this situation the assistance of associations of communication operators, which involve the FAS to settle specific cases, works.

A representative of the press service of PJSC Rostelecom responded that the increase in tariffs is due to an increase in costs; the company does not exceed the forecast of the consumer price index.

None of the "big four" mobile operators responded to ComNews' request.

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