In Russia, providers received free access to apartment buildings. The law was signed by Putin. What is it?

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, April 6, signed a law on free access for providers to apartment buildings (MKD). The document establishes uniform requirements for the placement of communication networks in residential buildings.

It provides for free placement of communication networks and access to them for operators in all apartment buildings. The exception is electricity charges. Networks can also be placed in a house at the request of any owner (tenant) without the need to make a decision at a general meeting of owners.

The law comes into force on the date of official publication.

Providers must reinstall their equipment to uniform standards within a year

According to the law, telecom operators are required to reinstall all their equipment within a year in accordance with established standards. The procedure and technical requirements for placing communication networks in MKD must be developed and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers within four months.

Agreements between providers and a management company (MC), concluded before the law came into force and providing for payment for the use of common property for the provision of communication services, have the right to be terminated at the request of one of the parties.

The law also stipulates that apartment owners have the right to cancel a decision on provider access to the house, but to do this they will need to get the votes of at least 2/3 of the residents.

The law provides for the liability of operators

In the absence of a new agreement with providers, the old equipment must be dismantled, and damage to common property caused during the work will need to be eliminated and compensated.

Providers also will be obliged pay for electricity consumed during the operation of communication networks according to invoices issued by the management company at home.

The State Duma adopted a law on free access of Internet providers to residential buildings on March 27. Amendments to Article 6 of the Law “On Communications” were developed by deputies of the United Russia party faction. The innovation will give owners the opportunity to independently choose Internet providers without imposition by management companies. Previously, approval of a new operator required the consent of two-thirds of the building's residents.

It has been proposed to provide providers with free entry into apartment buildings since the end of 2018. Then this was explained by the fact that the initiative would allow the relationship between telecom operators and management companies to be taken out of the “gray zone” and prevent further increases in tariffs. Every year, providers had to pay billions of rubles for access to home infrastructure.