OREANDA-NEWS. November 25, 2014. The Expert Council on Communications at the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) discussed placing suspended communications networks in municipalities.

Attendees included Deputy Moscow Mayor in the Moscow Government on Housing & Utilities, Pyotr Biryukov; the Head of Moscow Department for Fuel-and-Energy Economy, Pavel Livinsky; representatives of the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation; “MOESK” OJSC, etc.

To improve Moscow architectural-and-artistic look, Moscow Department for Fuel-and-Energy Economy devised and submitted for anti-corruption examination the Procedures for placing power supply air lines and telecommunications lines in Moscow.

Pyotr Biryukov and representatives of Moscow Department for Fuel-and-Energy Economy informed that the intended Procedures provide for air and underground cables, including moving the existing air cables underground.

Deputy Head of FAS Department for Control over Transport and Communications, Elena Zaeva, discussed the established practice of investigating antimonopoly cases against Yekaterinburg and Tyumen authorities, the Government of the Republic and Kazakhstan and Chelyabinsk City Legislature upon prohibiting air cables and forced dismantling of such cables.

Communications operators explained that the existing cables are accepted for operation by Roscomnadzor and placed in accord with the current federal law. The operators also highlighted that moving communications lines underground can significantly increase operators’ costs due to additional financial investments in moving the communications lines, which would inevitably result in considerable increase of the costs of communications services (up to 35% for end consumers), reduced quality of telecommunications services in the period of network modernization (dismantling / assembling communications lines), and if moving communications lines were difficult – in terminating services to particular users.

Based on the discussion, the Expert Council concluded that devising the Procedures to regulate placing cables by various methods in draft Moscow acts requires detailed elaboration on the proposals designed to observe the balance of interests of all parties.

Expert Council participants put forward specific proposals on refining draft acts designed to optimize placing cables in Moscow.

The Procedures must take into account the norms of the federal law, including the Federal Law “On Communications”, the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”, and provide for the methods of cable placing established by the federal law. Along with achieving the goals of preserving Moscow architectural-and-artistic look, it is important to prevent reduced accessibility of communications services for consumers, as well as pricing, and decreased quality of the communications services.

The Expert Council decided to refine draft Moscow acts, regulating the procedures for placing power supply air lines and telecommunications lines in Moscow, in accord with the results of the discussion and to engage the interested persons in the Working Group formed at Moscow Department for Fuel-and-Energy Economy.