Russian telecom ministry opposes bill banning foreign equipment

MOSCOW, Feb 20 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Communications and Mass Media Ministry opposes the bill to prohibit telecom companies from using foreign-made equipment when building their networks, as this could result in lower efficiency of telecom firm’s operations, Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said Thursday.

“The prohibiting measures will improve neither the efficiency of the whole telecom industry nor the operations of telecom companies,” Nikiforov said.

Earlier in February, deputies of the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, submitted for consideration a bill, under which Russian telecom companies will be allowed to purchase and use foreign telecom equipment only if there are no Russian-made analogues available.

The authors of the bill said in an explanatory note that foreign equipment was used for the construction and operations of more than 90% of all telecom networks in Russia, which threatens the country’s security and could have a negative impact on the economy.

The communications ministry believes that the government should take certain steps to support Russian producers of communications equipment, but domestic producers are still unable to meet the demand from communications companies.

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