Russia developing fees for international internet traffic

Russia’s Digital Development Ministry is developing a mechanism to impose additional charges on international internet traffic, according to a written .pdf response the ministry sent to the Association of Telecommunications Companies.

“Regarding additional charges on international traffic, we can report that the specific parameters of the mechanism for additional billing of international traffic for users of PRTS services are currently being worked out,” said Dmitry Tur, head of the Digital Development Ministry’s department for state regulation of the telecommunications market.

The Association of Telecommunications Companies, in its commentary on the ministry’s response, said the measures would most likely be rolled out for mobile networks first and that no decision had been reached on fixed-line internet. The ministry’s response itself makes no mention of home internet.

The charges are part of Russia’s broader campaign against VPN services. In late March, authorities proposed requiring telecom operators to charge an additional fee for VPN traffic — 150 rubles per gigabyte above a 15-gigabyte limit, Forbes Russia and BBC Russia reported. The Digital Development Ministry had pushed to introduce the fee by May 1, but operators asked for a delay.

The ministry’s response suggests it treats VPN traffic and international traffic as equivalent, the Telegram channel Obratnaya Storona Telekoma (“The Other Side of Telecom”) noted.