Russian business community pleads with federal government for special exemptions before costly counter-terrorism regulations enter force

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) is asking the federal government to exempt some telephone and wireless networks from counter-terrorism laws set to take effect in July next year, arguing that certain networks are used only at enterprises and often rely on analogue systems.

Many of these older technologies are installed where there are no typical modern networks, such as in underground mines, which are formally subject to Russia’s new counter-terrorism data-storage requirements.

According to the federal government’s current enforcement plan, Russia’s largest telecoms operators are expected to spend at least 100 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) in 2018 on compliance costs associated with the new counter-terrorism laws. RSPP says this will raise customers’ bills by as much as 30 percent.

Signed by Vladimir Putin in 2016, the laws are set to take effect in July 2018. The federal government is responsible for determining how the new regulations will be enforced, and the Communications Ministry favors a gradual introduction of data storage requirements over the next five years, excluding video and torrents.

When the new counter-terrorism requirements enter force, companies like Megafon, Beeline, and MTS will have to store records of all calls and text messages exchanged between customers for a period of six months. And for three years, the companies will need to keep the metadata on all calls and text messages (the information about when and between whom messages occurred, but not the actual content of the messages).