Press release
Pursuant to an Order issued by the Federal Tariff Service (FTS of Russia)[1]as of January 1, 2010 amendments are to be made to local and intrazonal telephony tariffs for services provided by telecommunications operators, including Uralsvyazinform in the territory of the Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen regions, Perm krai, Khanty-Mansiisk and Yamalo-Nenetsk autonomous districts.
Local and intrazonal telephony tariffs are subject to state regulation and are set by the FTS of Russia, which reviews the maximum tariffs once a year. In October-December 2009 the Board of Management of FTS of Russia adopted decisions on tariff indexation in 2010 for all regional companies of the Svyazinvest Group of companies. The weighted average indexation of tariffs for fixed-line telephony services provided by Uralsvyazinform will not be higher than 10%, as FTS noted in its statement.
“This is the first time that Uralsvyazinform has lowered its telephone installation fee so sharply, with the average cost falling 40%. Household telephones are becoming even more affordable to broad sectors of the population. As before, subscribers can freely choose the tariff plan which best fits their communication patterns. The lowest indexation in terms of percentage is expected under the unlimited tariff plan, which raises its subscriber appeal. The average increase in the monthly subscriber rental fee will be about 10%, which is in line with inflation”, deputy general director and commercial director of Uralsvyazinform Pavel Zaistev.
The tariff revision is of a packaged nature, which means that when certain tariffs go down, others go up. Thus, according to the Order of FTS of Russia, as of January 1, 2010:
- the tariff for the provision of access to the local telephony network (telephone installation) is to be lowered by an average 40.2%, and depending on the region, telephone installation will cost up to RUR 3,500 for households and up to RUR 4,500 for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs;
- the tariff for intrazonal telephony is to be lowered 22% in the third telephone zone (from 601 to 1,200 kilometers) in the Khanty-Mansiisk and Yamalo-Nenetsk autonomous districts (the cost per minute will go down by 34.6% to RUR 3.23 for households and by 17.6% to RUR 6.10 for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs;
- the increase in monthly subscriber payment when the tariff plan with the subscriber system of payment is selected will be 7.4% for households and 2.7% for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs;
- the increase in monthly subscriber payment when the tariff plan with the combined system of payment is selected will be 7.4% for households and 2.7% for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs;
- the increase in monthly mandatory subscriber payment when the tariff plan with the combined system of payment is selected (as of January 1, 2010 this plan includes 280 minutes of local telephone calls per month) will be 10.9% for households and 8.9% for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs;
- the increase in monthly mandatory subscriber payment when the tariff plan with a time-based system of payment is selected and with traffic of 90 minutes per month (as an example) will be 12.2% for households and 10.4% for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs;
- the increase in monthly mandatory subscriber payment when the additional tariff plan with the combined system of payment is selected (this plan include 120 minutes of local telephone calls per month) will be 11.9% for households (not available to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs).
Households tariffs are shown including VAT, and not including VAT for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
[1]Order # 258-s/3 of FTS of Russia “On the approval of tariffs for local voice and intrazonal telephony services provided by Uralsvyazinform and other telecommunications operators in the Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Tyumen regions, the Khanty-Mansiisk and Yamalo-Nenetsk autonomous districts (registered at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as entry # 15539 dated December 11, 2009 and published in “Rossiiskaya Gazeta” # 245 (5069) on December 21, 2009.
