Belarus, Russia not to abolish roaming in 2020 – Rapota
<p> MINSK, Dec 22 - PrimePress. Belarus and Russia will not abolish roaming charges until the end of 2020. There are technical and financial problems, but this issue can well be resolved, says State Secretary of the Belarus-Russia Union State Grigory Rapota. </p> <p> </p> <p> “I do not expect this issue to be finally resolved before the end of this year. Technical and financial problems have been arising all the time. There is some progress, though. In particular, the roaming charges are much lower now,” says Rapota. </p> <p> </p> <p> “We should stay patient to avoid a collapse of the telecommunication system. We must respect the interests of subscribers and providers,” he says. </p> <p> </p> <p> Belarusian and Russian telecom operators lowered on November 1, 2020 the interconnect rate from $0.3 to $0.015 per minute on a trial basis, which reduced manifold the telecommunication costs for their clients. </p> <p> </p> <p> The Belarus-Russia Union Treaty was signed on December 8, 1999 in Moscow. The adoption of a profound integration program was initially timed to the 20th anniversary of the Treaty. The parties are developing 31 draft roadmaps, including that on the abolition of roaming. </p> <p> </p> <p> The parties have been in roaming abolition talks for a few years now. They adopted a roadmap for the abolition of roaming in the Union State and a fraud prevention plan. The roadmap was approved by the telecom ministers of both countries in December 2019. The charges for incoming calls in roaming in the Union State was supposed to be abolished in or before September 2020. End </p>
2020-12-23
Primepress
Belarus, Russia not to abolish roaming in 2020 – Rapota
MINSK, Dec 22 - PrimePress. Belarus and Russia will not abolish roaming charges until the end of 2020. There are technical and financial problems, but this issue can well be resolved, says State Secretary of the Belarus-Russia Union State Grigory Rapota.
“I do not expect this issue to be finally resolved before the end of this year. Technical and financial problems have been arising all the time. There is some progress, though. In particular, the roaming charges are much lower now,” says Rapota.
“We should stay patient to avoid a collapse of the telecommunication system. We must respect the interests of subscribers and providers,” he says.
Belarusian and Russian telecom operators lowered on November 1, 2020 the interconnect rate from $0.3 to $0.015 per minute on a trial basis, which reduced manifold the telecommunication costs for their clients.
The Belarus-Russia Union Treaty was signed on December 8, 1999 in Moscow. The adoption of a profound integration program was initially timed to the 20th anniversary of the Treaty. The parties are developing 31 draft roadmaps, including that on the abolition of roaming.
The parties have been in roaming abolition talks for a few years now. They adopted a roadmap for the abolition of roaming in the Union State and a fraud prevention plan. The roadmap was approved by the telecom ministers of both countries in December 2019. The charges for incoming calls in roaming in the Union State was supposed to be abolished in or before September 2020. End