The letter was sent to the leaders of the Moscow, Leningrad, Vologda, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Orenburg, Kostroma, Tyumen, Yaroslavl, Penza regions, Perm and Altai territories, and the Republic of Buryatia.
In an appeal dated September 16, Shadayev points out that bans on the installation of stations at a distance of 25–150 meters impede the development of infrastructure and can lead to interruptions in communications, which creates risks of unavailability of emergency services and emergency alerts.
The head of the department recalled that each base station undergoes a safety check by Rospotrebnadzor, and only after that do operators request construction permission from local authorities.
The government of the Yaroslavl region reported that they have not yet made a decision to lift restrictions, and other regions have not provided a response to Kommersant’s request.
The Ministry of Digital Development said that regional authorities are using regulatory loopholes, classifying communication facilities as amenities, although this does not correspond to their real nature. Rospotrebnadzor told the publication that standards for electromagnetic fields in Russia have been developed over 20 years based on scientific research and have proven their effectiveness.
As t2 (formerly Tele2) reported, mass bans on the installation of base stations began to appear in 2019. According to the telecom operator, this is due to the growth of radiophobia in society amid the accelerated construction of communication infrastructure. Megafon believes that household appliances, such as microwaves, can be more hazardous to health than base stations, and MTS indicated that restrictions in the regions are hindering the implementation of digital programs.
As Izvestia reported, telecom operators’ fees for using the radio frequency spectrum may increase significantly in 2024. An increase should be expected if the Ministry of Digital Development establishes a new principle for calculating this fee. According to the publication, Russian operators paid 15–17 billion rubles a year for the use of frequencies. If the new calculation method is approved, costs could rise to 30 billion, a source close to one of the telecom operators predicted.
Cover photo: KPhrom /
Source: rb.ru
