PRESS: Ministry wants 99% of local Web traffic carried inside Russia

MOSCOW, May 13 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Communications and Mass Media Ministry wants 99% of domestic Internet traffic to be carried inside the country by 2020 as compared to 70% in 2014, and 99% of critical infrastructure of the Internet to be doubled on the local basis against zero in 2014 and 40% expected in 2016, business daily Vedomosti reported Friday.

An unnamed federal official told the daily that at present, a part of traffic between Russian systems runs via external points of exchange and there are no guarantees of their trouble-free function.

That is why there will be created a system of monitoring of cohesion and sustainability of the network. As soon as data are analyzed, plans of operators for construction of own channels will be revised.

The ministry does not explain the term “critical infrastructure” precisely, but its components are national domains .ru and .ðô and the equipment ensuring their work and traffic exchange. The country has its own systems, but they are not officially entitled as reserve ones and no responsible were put in charge for them, the official said.

Internet services are not a part of critical infrastructure, because failures of Internet company Yandex or social network VKontakte are their malfunctions and not a fall of the Internet, another official said.

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