Minister: National roaming in Russia can disappear in 1–2 years

MOSCOW, Oct 28 (PRIME) -- National roaming in Russia can be abolished in one to two years, Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikiforov told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of an innovations forum.

“We back up the cancellation of national roaming…It will require some teamwork in the improvement of inter-operator connections and gradual deregulation of the industry,” the minister said.

“(Roaming) historically popped up at the moment when there was a special regulation, when every operator, whether it had its own connection channels between cities or not, was obliged to join a certain all-Russian operator.”

The regulation resulted from protectionism regarding big federal players. “Today we are following the path of liberalization and we want the government to reduce its influence year after year,” the minister said.

The national roaming will disappear when operators will find themselves in a regime of a free market, the official said, adding that the reform of the inter-operator relations is well under way.

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