Vedomosti reports Russian mobile carriers ask for more time to set up VPN traffic billing systems
Several Russian mobile carriers will not be ready by May 1 to begin charging customers extra for VPN traffic on their networks, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported, citing sources. Some have asked the Digital Development Ministry for more time to prepare. Discussions on the matter took place in mid-April, according to Vedomosti.
Sources who participated in the discussions said the operators are technically unprepared to start billing customers the additional fee on that date. The sticking point is billing system configurations — systems that track internet traffic and calls in real time, apply rates, and deduct funds from accounts.
Making the necessary adjustments in such a short time is not realistic, one source told the paper. There is also uncertainty over which traffic should be classified as international, since some Russian companies use foreign IP addresses for their websites and apps.
Each operator is interpreting the ministry’s requirements differently, and the situation is currently “in a phase of ongoing discussions,” Vedomosti’s sources said. Some carriers are prepared to comply; others need until fall to configure their systems and soften the impact on customers.
One source said the ministry would likely hear out all the opinions and ultimately land on “something in between doing it by May 1, September 1, or 2028.”
It became known in late March that the Digital Development Ministry, acting on Vladimir Putin’s instructions at one of his meetings, had asked mobile carriers to charge customers for traffic generated through VPN services. The proposal called for introducing a fee starting May 1 for the use of more than 15 gigabytes of international traffic per month. VPN traffic appears to carriers as foreign traffic.
Russians would be required to pay roughly 150 rubles for each extra gigabyte of mobile VPN traffic, BBC Russia reported.
Demand for VPNs in Russia surged after YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram were blocked. In response, Russian authorities stepped up their efforts to crack down on circumvention tools. By mid-April, major Russian internet platforms had restricted access to their sites and apps for users with VPNs enabled, acting on orders from the authorities.
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