Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) demanded from the EAEU communications providers to develop «rules of use of fair tariffs» in the territory of the member states of the Union and reduce the rates on mobile services by 2025, Vedomosti reports.
In a letter the EEC requested information on fair tariffs for cellular services in international roaming and asked to provide data on the number of clients, the amount and cost of cellular services for mobile users of the EEU countries from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022.
A road map of roaming cancellation in the EAEU was attached to the request. Under this road map, providers must develop «rules of use of fair tariffs for communication services in the territory of the member countries» by the end of 2024 and by the first quarter of 2025 to reduce the international interconnect rates and introduce corresponding tariffs for cellular services for users in EEU countries.
Megafon representative said to Vedomosti that the company was ready to consider the possibility of introducing «comfortable» tariffs for users on the territory of the EAEU, but they have to calculate the net cost of tariffs and assess additional expenses. MTS representative says the road map includes «logical stages of implementation» and the result depends on the implementation of necessary measures by all participants. He didn’t rule out a decrease in income of all communications providers due to innovations.
In September 2021, Russia and Belarus, which is also a member of the EAEU, agreed to abolish roaming on the territory of the union state. The issue has been discussed for several years. The communications ministries of the two countries signed an agreement back in 2018, and they signed a roadmap in 2019.
