PRESS: Firms’ revenue shortfall from free websites 220 mln rbl

MOSCOW, Jul 2 (PRIME) -- Russian home Internet providers have lost 190–220 million rubles of revenue since the April start of an experiment of free fixed-line access to the socially important resources, business daily Kommersant reported on Thursday.

Each participant of the experiment incurred 30-100 million rubles of costs on the purchase and installation of equipment, and 5 to 20 million rubles on servicing and technical support, according to a working group of the connection and IT commission of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

The estimate was based on data from operators MTS, including MGTS; ER-Telecom; VimpelCom; and NetByNet, a unit of MegaFon.

Total losses and costs of the fixed-line operators could amount to 6.8 billion rubles in the first year of the free access project and 5.5 billion rubles annually later.

If mobile access is added, the market’s shortfall in revenue will stand at least at 110 billion rubles a year. After consultations with the operators, the Economic Development Ministry weighed the shortfall in incomes at 160 billion rubles a year.

The union intends to send the figures to the Digital Development Ministry and the president’s administration.

Project Affordable Internet, stipulating free fixed-line access to the socially important resources, was prolonged till December 31.

(70.4413 rubles – U.S. $1)

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