Accessible Internet (free access to socially significant sites)

Program to eliminate digital inequality in Russia

Main article: Program to eliminate digital inequality in Russia

2023: Government Extends Free Access to Meaningful Internet Resources

The duration of free access to socially significant online resources, regardless of the balance on the subscriber's account under the "Accessible Internet" program, will be increased from 24 hours to 7 days without the need to reconnect. The decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. The updated rules will come into force on September 1, 2024. This was announced on October 3, 2023 by the RANEPA.

The Accessible Internet program is being implemented in Russia on behalf of the president. The obligation of telecom operators to provide citizens with free access to socially significant online resources is enshrined in the law "On Communications."

The list of sites that Russians can use for free, based on the proposals of the Ministry of Digital Development, is determined by a special government commission chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. Information on information resources included in the list is posted on the official website of Roskomnadzor.

For October 2023, this list public services portal social network includes "."Vkontakte

The signed document amended the Government Decree of December 31, 2021 No. 2606 and No. 2607.

It is worth noting that this step testifies to the desire states to ensure greater access of citizens to and information public services. Increasing the availability of online resources in general contributes to reducing social inequalities and ensuring equal opportunities for all citizens. And in the case of socially significant online resources, this will increase the availability of public services and simplify interaction with, - by government agencies said the Natalia Garkusha director of the Center for Training Leaders and Teams of Digital Transformation of the Higher School of Economics, RANEPA.

Free access to socially significant sites is an initiative aimed at increasing the availability of the Internet and expanding information freedom. Various organizations and governments around the world provide this opportunity for those who are financially constrained or living in remote areas. To connect to the "Available Internet," you need to go to the operator's application, select the "Available Internet" option, log in through "Public services" (you need to have a confirmed account), and then select the desired one from the list of socially significant sites. In my opinion, this is positive news that now such an opportunity has been increased from 24 hours to 7 days, - said Daria Dochkina, an expert at the RANEPA St. Petersburg.

2022

The program includes only Public services and VKontakte

The program of free access to socially significant sites included only state Public services and VKontakte. As it became known on August 19, 2022, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation found other resources for the Accessible Internet project, except for the social network and the Public services portal.

These two sites were included in the list created by the department back in January 2022, and the current list, according to a government decree, should have been approved no later than August 1, 2022. But the Ministry of Digital Development does not plan to update or expand it in the near future, Vedomosti writes with reference to the agency's message in August 2022.

The program of free access to socially significant sites includes only state Public services and VKontakte

The representative of the Ministry of Digital Development explained to the newspaper that VKontakte and Public services "act as a universal point of access to any information and materials important to people posted by government bodies, the media, educational organizations, and so on."

According to the law, valid by August 2022, a socially significant site must be registered in domain zones ru, RF, su, children; be controlled or created by Russian citizens who work in Russia; the share of foreign ownership of the site should be limited to 20%. The resource must be included in the register of information dissemination organizers, and at least half of visitors must have access to it from the territory of the country. At the same time, sites must contain on their pages a limited amount of audio and video materials, advertising and commercial content.

The site can be considered socially significant if it is visited by at least 5 million users per day. In addition, at least 5,000 accounts of government agencies, state media and the largest Russian television channels should be located on it.^[1]

Mobile operators provided free access to Public services and Vkontakte

Most mobile operators have connected the "Available" option, Internet thanks to which access to Public services and from "" social network Vkontakte will be free. This was Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation reported on February 25, 2022.

These platforms were included in the list of socially significant sites by the government commission to determine the list of domestic socially significant information resources chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Dmitry Chernyshenko.

To connect to the "Available Internet" you need to:

• Go to the application of the mobile operator.
• Select the Available Internet option.
• Log in through Public services (you need to have a confirmed account).
• Select the desired one from the list of socially significant sites.

If you enable this option, other sites will not be available. You can use the "Available Internet" continuously for 24 hours, this time can be extended. You can disable the service earlier - the exact instructions depend on the telecom operators.

As of February 2022, Accessible Internet works for mobile operators Beeline, MTS, Megafon and Tele2 and Internet providers Rostelecom, ER-Telecom, MGTS and AKADO. It is assumed that in the future all telecom operators providing access to the Internet will connect this service.

The experiment on free access to socially significant sites was launched on April 1, 2020 and showed high demand among citizens. The criteria for including resources in the list of socially significant sites are determined by Decree of the Government of Russia of 29.12.2021 No. 2531.

2021

The largest domestic social networks will be included in the list of free socially significant resources

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on December 29, 2021 signed a decree (No. 2531) on the rules for maintaining a list of free socially significant information resources. They also set criteria for the selection of such resources.

At the suggestion of Ministry of Digital Development, the list, in particular, may include the most popular domestic social networks with a daily audience of more than 5 million users. Among the mandatory criteria, there is also a requirement to have at least 5 thousand pages of authorities on the resource, as well as pages of state media and mandatory public channels.

The list of socially significant information resources will be updated by the government commission at least once a year. Information about information resources included in the list will be posted on the official website of Roskomnadzor.

The federal law on the provision of free access to Russian socially significant Internet services was adopted in August 2021 based on the results of a pilot project. About 400 online resources were selected for the experiment, including Internet search engines, websites of authorities, museums and cultural institutions, as well as a number of TV channels and print media. As of December 2021, the Government of the Russian Federation has completed the formation of a regulatory framework for the full-scale implementation of the presidential initiative on free access to socially significant Internet resources^[2].

Mishustin created a legal commission to form a list of free sites

At the end of December 2021, it became known about the creation in Russia of a government commission to determine the list of free socially significant information resources. The corresponding decree was signed by the head of the Government of the RFMikhail Mishustin.

The commission will select sites on the basis of proposals from the Ministry of Digital Development. Access to resources that are recognized as socially significant will become free for citizens. Viewing information there, including photo and video materials, will not be taken into account when assessing Internet traffic, and it will be possible to connect to such sites even with a zero balance.

Mikhail Mishustin created a legal commission to form a list of free sites

About 400 Internet resources were selected for the experiment, including Internet search engines, websites of authorities, museums and cultural institutions, as well as a number of TV channels and print media.

Among other things, the commission will make decisions on the exclusion of information resources from the list, the document says. The chairman of the new commission will be the Deputy Prime Minister, who oversees issues of state policy in the field of media and mass communications. Although the name of the chairman is not named in the document itself, it is known that these issues are supervised by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Meetings of the commission will be held as necessary, but at least once a year. The composition of the commission will be determined in the near future, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported on December 28, 2021.

Earlier in 2021, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) proposed restricting free access to socially significant sites under the affordable Internet program and providing it only to portals of government agencies, public services and non-profit organizations from such areas as education, health care and social protection. The union believes that the costs of telecom operators should be compensated for this. P^[3]

In Russia, the law on free access to the sites of government agencies came into force

On December 1, 2021, a law came into force on free access to Russian socially significant sites, including the resources of state bodies.

The list of sites that can be accessed even with a zero balance on the subscriber's account, in addition to the resources of state and municipal authorities, includes websites of extrabudgetary funds, public services portals, search networks and news aggregators.

By December 1, 2021 Government of the Russian Federation , it had not yet approved the list of such sites and the criteria for its replenishment, but telecom operators as part of the experiment already provide free access to a number of sites - in particular, To Public services to sites. state agencies The procedure for determining such resources is established by a special commission of the government. Russia

In Russia, the law on free access to the sites of government agencies came into force

Ministry of Digital Development previously published for public discussion the procedure for compiling a list of such sites, the project was criticized by operators. They complained about the wide possibilities for interpreting "social significance," in addition, in their opinion, the list may include resources with advertising, paid services and platforms with videos, including foreign ones. According to the results of public procedures, the project has been significantly revised to more fully take into account the interests of the operator community, the Ministry of Digital Development reported at the end of November 2021.

Then the department updated the rules for socially significant sites. They will be allowed to show videos in low resolution, and will also be banned from downloading information from foreign resources and showing non-state advertising.

As Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications, explained, the law on free access to Russian socially significant sites is aimed at expanding the capabilities of citizens and their rights to access socially significant information.^[4]

Ministry of Digital Development approved the criteria for the selection of socially significant sites with free access

At the end of October 2021, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation approved the criteria for the selection of socially significant sites with free access. In addition to state resources, this list will include services from companies that are more than half owned by Russian owners.

The list of domestic socially significant sites, which will be maintained by Roskomnadzor, will include:

The Ministry of Digital Development has determined the criteria for the selection of socially significant sites with free access

• official websites of government agencies and local governments located in Runet;
• official websites of state extra-budgetary funds of the Russian Federation;
• portals of state and municipal services;
• other information resources of social importance, including those aimed at the spiritual and moral education of the young generation and the formation of a culture of safe use of the Internet.

Socially significant sites should, in particular, function in the domain zone .ru; .rf; .su; .deti;.rus. Legal entities registered in the Russian Federation should manage these domains. The main language of the resource should be Russian. Software tools for the functioning of the site must be provided by Russian legal entities or individual entrepreneurs.

Sites will be included in the list depending on their public (social) significance for citizens, the number of users on the territory of the Russian Federation compared to information resources of a similar orientation.

The Ministry of Digital Development will annually send for consideration to the government commission proposals on the inclusion of additional Internet resources in the list. The final decision will be made by a special government commission.

The department must, by November 20, 2021, form and send proposals to the government commission on the formation of a list of domestic socially significant information resources.^[5]

The Ministry of Digital Development asked for free access to socially significant sites abroad

In mid-September 2021, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) for communications and IT, MTS, VimpelCom, MegaFon and Tele2 asked the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation to adjust the rules for providing free access to socially significant sites. The proposals are as follows:

• access to socially significant sites can only be obtained by subscribers who have confirmed their citizenship of the Russian Federation, for example, through a unified identification and authentication system (ESIA);
• free access should not operate in roaming, including national;
• it is necessary to provide the service only to subscribers who independently contacted the call center and agreed to free access;
• free access should not be provided if the client does not pay for communication for more than two months.

The Ministry of Digital Development asked for free access to socially significant sites abroad

By September 15, 2021, the Ministry of Digital Development does not take into account any of the proposals, but said that they were ready to consider them and were in dialogue with the industry. They noted that non-tariff access to socially significant sites is needed so that the user remains online with a zero balance.

General Director of TMT Consulting Konstantin Ankilov noted that "free traffic on social networks and other popular resources can overload networks." In his opinion, subscribers can also start switching to cheaper tariffs with less traffic, and operators will lose even more in revenue.

Mobile Research Group analyst Eldar Murtazin considers the concerns of telecommunications companies not unfounded: foreign citizens who come to Russia are highly likely to want to use free access to sites.

By mid-September 2021, free access is provided to 371 sites and services, including social networks, Internet resources of TV channels and stores.^[6]

Putin signed a law on free access to socially significant sites

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on free access to socially significant sites. The corresponding document, supplementing the law "On Communications," was published on July 2, 2021 on the official portal of legal information.

According to the law, services for subscribers to provide access to "sites included in the list of domestic socially significant sites in the information and telecommunication Internet are provided without charging." The corresponding list of Internet resources will be determined in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Russian Information Agency reports to TASS.

Vladimir Putin signed a law on free access to socially significant sites

It is known that the list of resources affected by the new law will include websites of state and local authorities, websites of extra-budgetary funds of the Russian Federation, as well as a portal of public services. Such resources should be located in the domain zones .ru, .рf, .su,.dety.

According to the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications Alexander Khinshtein, the law on free access to social significant sites will allow a huge number of people to use various services of Internet resources for free.

This initiative will allow a huge number of people to use various Internet resources for free. By the second reading, we improved this bill, clearly determined what socially significant sites are, included the Internet resources of state authorities, municipal, local self-government, state extra-budgetary funds, and, most importantly, state and municipal services. Thus, the provision of services for our citizens throughout the country will now be free, - said the parliamentarian.

The State Duma adopted the corresponding law on June 17, 2021, the Federation Council approved it on June 23.^[7]

To telecom operators suggested to compensate costs of free access to the socially important websites due to advertizing

Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Maksut Shadayev during a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications said that free access to socially significant sites for operators will be monetized through advertising. This became known on April 19, 2021.

We proceed from the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation to provide free access to social sites. By socially significant we understand not only the sites of state authorities, as well as social networks, instant messengers, search, email, cloud storage of files, services and services related to education, healthcare, that is, this is what accounts for 20% of mobile Internet traffic and fixed in our understanding. We proceed from them that this will not be a serious burden for operators. They will be able to additionally monetize such traffic through advertising. We have a case in the Moscow metro, where free Internet is provided through advertising. We must not allow the population to pay for this in the end, so that tariffs increase, - said Maksut Shadayev.

Tele2 does not agree with the assessment of Internet traffic that will fall on free sites, and also does not support the list of alleged free sites.

An increase in traffic by 20% is a conservative estimate, while we predict it at 40%. The amount of lost income depends on the final list of resources that will be included in the project. We are ready to make free access to state and municipal resources, the State Public services website and the sites of medical institutions, - comments the representative of the press service of Tele2. - The idea that social sites can become a platform for advertising seems to be unpromising and difficult to implement. It is technically impossible to implement it according to the Wi-Fi scenario in the metro. It is impossible to make viewing ads a kind of "key" to access the site, since the connection to the operator's network is continuous and does not repeat the mechanics of the Wi-Fi session (at the beginning of which the video is turned on). The need to view ads will negatively affect the quality of customer experience and only irritate visitors to state resources. Given the complexity of such a monetization scenario, we insist that compensation for operators' costs should be enshrined at the legislative level.

PJSC MegaFon"" also disagrees with the list of sites with free access.

It is impossible for telecom operators to place ads during a subscriber session, since 90% of Internet traffic is transmitted over encrypted protocols to which operators do not have access. And that figure is aiming for 100%. Getting into the list of socially significant resources of Internet sites that have a commercial component in their activities contradicts the original idea of ​ ​ the Accessible Internet project and will lead to a number of strategic threats to the industry's infrastructure, the MegaFon press service explains. - We believe that it is necessary to return to the original task and provide free access to those resources that meet the criterion of social significance: these are primarily state Internet services (such as Public services), online representative offices of medical and public organizations of social orientation.

PJSC VimpelCom"" (brand Beeline"") according to: potential revenues from the placement of such advertising are insignificant and will not be able to compensate for the multi-billion dollar losses of operators.

It is necessary to assess the technical implementation of this proposal and the cost of such a solution, since the tapping of advertising is fraught with significant technical restrictions due to the predominant share of encrypted traffic on resources. In addition, the question arises of which of the advertisers will in principle be interested in placing such advertising, given that additional obstacles when visiting resources related to socially significant may become an annoying factor for consumers, "said a representative of the Beeline press service.

The representative of the press service of MTS PJSC confirms that the telecom operator cannot technically organize the display of advertising before the session of the subscriber using the "Accessible Internet" (before accessing the page requested by the subscriber), as is done when using Wi-Fi in the metro.

Because the subscriber, having activated the SIM-card, is always in the network of the telecom operator. And in the metro, the subscriber connects to the network every time. And advertising in the metro is shown when connected to the communication network in the metro, - comments a representative of the MTS press service. - The telecom operator cannot place ads during the subscriber session, since 90% of the traffic of Internet resources is transmitted over encrypted protocols (HTTPS), the owner of the encryption certificate is the owner of the Internet resource. The telecom operator does not have access to the encryption certificate, and therefore does not have the technical ability to inject its advertising into encrypted traffic. A large number of advertising causes discontent among subscribers and forces[8] to use ad blockers[9]

2020

Extension of the experiment to provide free access to domestic socially significant Internet resources

On December 30, 2020, TASS The Russian Information Agency announced that the Russian Ministry of Digital Development had extended for six months, until June 30, 2021, an experiment to provide free access to domestic socially significant Internet resources. The corresponding order was signed by the head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev, the press service of the ministry told TASS.

The Ministry of Digital Development experiment has been taking place since April 1, 2020, within the framework of it, Russian operators - Rostelecom"," MTSBeeline"," "," Megaphone"," "Er-Telecom Holding as well as virtual mobile and regional operators provide subscribers with access to almost 400 sites even with a zero balance on the client's account. The list of sites includes services Yandex"," ("" VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) social networks and Vkontakte""), Schoolmates as well as sites MEDIA and TV channels, banks food delivery services and taxi aggregators, marketplaces.

The ability for users to get free access to socially significant Internet services is especially relevant during a pandemic. The project demonstrates the demand among citizens. According to the information provided by the pilot's participating operators, about 1.8 million unique users used free access to such resources during the experiment, "said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Oleg Ivanov, whose words are quoted by the press service.

All operators communications working in the territory were invited to participate in the Ministry of Digital Development project. RUSSIAN FEDERATION

In parallel with the implementation of the pilot, Ministry of Digital Development developed a corresponding draft federal law, which was submitted to the State Duma on December 29, 2020^[10].

Putin instructed to transfer socially significant public services online

President RFVladimir Putin instructed to translate mass socially significant state and municipal services into electronic format. This was announced on October 14, 2020 by the Kremlin website.

To ensure by January 1, 2023, the transfer to the electronic format of mass socially significant state and municipal services, providing for appropriate changes in national projects, the document says.

The order must be executed by January 1, 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been appointed responsible. The report on the implementation of the order should be submitted once every six months, starting from 2021.

The head of the Ministry of Finance Maksut Shadayev said earlier that by 2024 about 300 public services will be fully available electronically. About 120 of them are federal, another 180 are regional and municipal. According to Shadayev, a person will be able to fully submit documents and get the result online.

The President of the Russian Federation instructed to transfer socially significant public services online

The Government of the Russian Federation should develop and implement in the regions and municipalities standard regulations for the provision of socially significant public services in electronic format, including using the infrastructure of the portal of public services.

Until February 1, 2021, the government needs to ensure the coordination of the work of deputy heads of the highest executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation responsible for digital transformation in order to ensure the transfer of mass socially significant state and municipal services to electronic format.

Until July 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers was also instructed to ensure the adoption of bills on the transition to a proactive model of the provision of public services using the infrastructure of a single portal, in particular, without the need for applicants to apply.^[11]

Maksut Shadayev: Ministry of Digital Development will not compensate operators for losses from free Internet

On September 21, 2020, the head of the Ministry of Digital Science Maksut Shadayev said that the department was not going to compensate telecom operators for losses from providing free access to socially significant sites under the Accessible Internet program. According to the minister, the losses of telecommunications companies will be insignificant.

We will launch, we will understand how much revenue will fall, because in our understanding, if a decision is made to launch without video traffic, then these are very small losses, which we estimate at 2-3%, - said Maksut Shadayev on the sidelines of the Russian Internet Forum ("RIF 2020/in the City").

He clarified that the launch of the "affordable Internet" will take place after the new year (in 2021).

Earlier, Maksut Shadayev has already commented on the proposal to compensate costs to operators. According to him, the share of traffic that will account for access to socially significant resources and which operators will zero will not exceed 10% of total mobile traffic.

Maksut Shadayev: Ministry of Digital Development will not compensate operators for losses from free Internet

"Lion" traffic is streaming traffic, and it will not be included (in the list of socially significant resources)... This segment is growing at a good pace, the minister said.

Earlier, operators estimated their losses to provide free access to socially significant sites at 150 billion rubles.

150 is their figure, they did not give us anything, we don't even have any materials, "Shadayev said. - Our position as a regulator is not to compensate.

For two months of the experiment to provide free access to social significant resources in the Russian Federation, 500 thousand people used the service. Later, the experimental period was extended until the end of 2020.

Earlier it was reported about the statement of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, according to which fixed Internet operators do not incur global losses in connection with the Accessible Internet project^[12]

Ministry of Communications: operators will lose 5% of revenue due to free Internet

According to the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, Russian operators do not count up to 5% of revenue due to the provision of free access to socially significant sites under the Affordable Internet program.

For fixed communications, we have a minimum amount of [operator costs]. In terms of mobile traffic, our estimate there is about 3-5%, potentially the loss of operators' revenue is possible. Then we say that there can probably be more complex models when operators can skip video content, but having received some opportunity to make money on this, "Maksut Shadayev, head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, told TASS.

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications said that operators will lose 5% of revenue due to free Internet

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said that operators could be reimbursed for mobile traffic costs for the Affordable Internet program through advertising placed during the transition to socially significant resources.

At one of the meetings in the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, another option for compensating operators for Affordable Internet was discussed - to provide project participants with tax deductions from purchases of equipment for modernization and expansion of network capacity, two sources in telecom operators told the publication. The operators proposed not to limit the amounts and volumes of purchased equipment, said one of the interlocutors.

As part of this project, Rostelecom, MTS, Beeline, MegaFon, Er-Telecom Holding, virtual mobile and regional operators provide free access to almost 400 socially significant sites (by September 8, 2020).

The lack of advertising and information about paid services on the sites of the "Affordable Internet" is one of the criteria for selecting the sites participating in the project that the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications offers. The ministry believes that the costs of operators are minimized due to the lack of "heavy" content on sites: for example, audio and videos.^[13]

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications has decided on the selection criteria for free socially significant sites

On August 19, 2020, it became known about the requirements for socially significant sites developed by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. They are stated in a letter, Deputy Minister of Communications Oleg Ivanov sent to the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shokhin.

Vedomosti, with reference to this letter, writes that in order to be included in the list of socially significant sites, resources must use the domain zone.ru,.rf,.su,.neti, be created and be located on the territory of the Russian Federation with a foreign capital share of no more than 20%, and also at least 50% of the audience should have access to the resource from the territory of the Russian Federation. 

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications has decided on the requirements for socially significant sites

Other requirements include:

• the site should be included in the register of organizers of the dissemination of information of Roskomnadzor;
• the site should not have audio or videos, as well as advertising, with the exception of social;
• the site should publish materials mainly on Russian topics, and its main language - Russian or state languages ​ ​ of the regions;
• the owner of the site cannot post information about paid services, give links to them. The exception is state and municipal services.
• The site must be accessible at one static network address.

By August 19, 2020, "free access to 371 socially significant sites is provided by fixed-line operators and Sberbank. 1 million Russians took part in the experiment, the average speed of communication services was about 1.7 Mbps.

The list of socially significant sites to which free access is open is divided into several categories: "communication services," "aggregators of socially significant information," "national culture and traditions," "continuing education and advanced training" and others.^[14]

According to RSPP estimates, the lost revenue of all telecom operators due to the implementation of the project will amount to more than 110 billion rubles a year, and additional costs will cost up to 1.25 billion rubles in the first year and up to 1 billion rubles in the future. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications states that the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs did not provide a calculation method with which the volume of lost revenue of telecom operators was obtained.

Extension of the experiment on the "Available Internet"

Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Russia On July 2, 2020, she announced the interim results of the project to provide citizens with free access Internet to and decided to extend the experiment until December 31, 2020. Access is provided within the framework of the "pilot" launched by the Ministry of Communications of Russia on April 1, 2020.

Five telecom operators participate in the project, together providing the Internet to 70% of households in Russia: PJSC Rostelecom, PJSC Mobile TeleSystems, PJSC Vimpel-Communications, PJSC MegaFon, PJSC Er-Telecom Holding, as well as a number of regional operators. Each of the five telecom operators, on average, provided access to fixed communication networks to more than 50 thousand users every month. The average speed of communication services within the framework of the experiment was about 8.7 Mbps. The total traffic volume for April and May 2020 amounted to 5.5 TB. 63% of users downloaded more than 100 MB of information from the resources and sites of the list.

We recorded the interest of citizens in the "social" package from operators, and decided to extend the experiment while we are working within the framework of legislative activities to provide free access to sites from the list approved by the ministry, - commented the State Secretary - Deputy Head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia Lyudmila Bokova.

The draft federal law "On Amendments to Article 54 of the Federal Law" On Communications, "which provides for gratuitous access of citizens of the Russian Federation to Internet services included in the register of domestic socially significant resources, was submitted to the Government of the Russian Federation on April 14, 2020.

Together with telecom operators, organizers of information dissemination, media and TV channels, during the experiment, the main unified organizational, technical and content requirements for socially significant resources were formed to be included in the corresponding register to provide non-charged access.

The Ministry of Communications of Russia also developed a procedure for forming a list of IP addresses of socially significant resources and bringing it to telecom operators. According to this order, the ministry approves and sends to Roskomnadzor a list of socially significant resources. Then the owners of these resources post IP addresses in their personal account on the Roskomnadzor website. Based on the obtained data, a table is formed, which is automatically placed in the personal accounts of telecom operators.

At the beginning of July 2020, 371 sites are included in the register. The list is divided into several categories: "communication services," "aggregators of socially significant information," "national culture and traditions," "continuing education and advanced training" and others.

Operators demanded 150 billion from the state for free access to state portals, mail and social networks

and The Russian providers operators communications calculated their annual losses from the implementation of the "Affordable" project. Internet They will reach 150 billion rubles, and the companies demanded states that they compensate them for these losses, which will grow over time. This became known on February 11, 2020.

The commission of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) for communications and IT insists on providing providers and cellular operators with compensation for Affordable Internet. The meeting of the commission was attended by representatives of operators and Yandex, as well as a number of experts.

"Accessible Internet" is a state project proposed for implementation by the President Russia Vladimir Putin on January 15, 2020 as part of a message to the Federal Assembly. It implies providing Russian residents with completely free access to socially significant resources. RuNet The project must be implemented by March 1, 2020 - from this day on, providers must stop charging subscribers for access portal of public services to and sites of all federal and regional authorities.

The RSPP believes that the next financial burden of operators and providers against the background of the need to comply with the "Spring Law" and the law on "sovereign runet" is unacceptable. The Union has prepared a number of proposals for resolving the issue of compensation, which will later be sent to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. These include the creation of a single register of significant web resources and its transfer to the jurisdiction of Roskomnadzor. Representatives of the regulator noted that they are ready to take part in the creation of a "separate regulatory regulation" for the Affordable Internet project.

Rostelecom assured that it will provide access to socially significant sites even with zero subscriber account balance. Its representatives noted that the use of portals of public services and government agencies practically does not consume traffic due to the small amount of video content.

The operator Megaphone"" also announced its readiness to provide free access to the sites of public services and authorities from March 2020, MTS"" VimpelCom(brand Beeline"") and Yandex declined to comment.

Carriers and providers fear their annual costs of providing free access to sites will rise. This is primarily due to the fact that the final list of uncharged resources as of February 11, 2020 was not approved. The more sites get into it, the higher the costs will be due to the increase in the volume of traffic consumed by users.

On January 24, 2020, it became known that the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications handed over to telecom operators from the Big Four an intermediate version of the list of socially significant Internet resources. The services in it were divided into four categories: state portals, postal services, social networks and other significant resources.

The preliminary list of state resources free of charge for Russian citizens includes websites of ministries and state authorities. The portal of public services is also on the list, and the traffic fee when using it will not be charged either.

In the category "Social networks" are listed: "Vkontakte," "Odnoklassniki," "The world is cramped," "Diary," "My world," "In the circle of friends" and "Photostrana." The postal services of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications include portals of yandex.ru, mail.ru and km.ru.

Other significant information resources so far include only the Bip messenger, owned by the Turkish cellular operator Turkcell. As for the messaging services popular among Russians (Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, etc.), they are not on the list.

The Ministry of Communications did not confirm this information. Representatives of the department noted that the list was not transmitted to telecom operators, since at that time it was still in development. Later, the head of the ministry, Maksut Shadayev, clarified that the final version of the list of free sites for Russians should be formed by the end of February^[15].

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications approved a list of socially significant sites with free access

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications in early April 2020 approved a list of socially significant sites to which Russian Internet providers will have to provide access without charging. The list is published on the ministry's website.

In total, it includes 391 resources, grouped into 19 sections: "Social media both communities," "and Email messengers cloudy file storage," "Weather," "Search," "Online media and news aggregators," "Maps, transport," "Auto," "Culture, literature and art," "Education and training," "Health and healthy lifestyle," "Science," "," "bodies and SportState services," "Reference systems," "Work and career," "," "Delivery," Finance"Aggregators and marketplaces" and "Social and volunteer services."

The section "Social Networks and Communities" included Vkontakte, "Schoolmates", "My world", "LiveJournal", Otzovik, BabyBlog and others, the section "E-mail, Messengers and Cloud Storage of Files" - Mail.ru, "Yandex.Mail", "Rambler/mail", "Mail.Ru Cloud", "Yandex.Disk", service of holding webinars Webinar.ru and others, in the section "Search" - Yandex search engines, Mail.ru and "Rambler".

Among the news resources, the government included in the list the websites of the newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Izvestia and Argumenty i Fakty, as well as RBC, Lenta.ru, Russia Today, Channel One, NTV and others.

It was proposed to make access free to the services Yandex.Maps"," "Yandex.Metro" and "Yandex.Schedules," 2GIS"," public cadastral map, Russia site, sites of RUSSIAN RAILWAY the President of Russia and the Government of the Russian Federation, portal "," Public services sites,, FTS RPF service "."ConsultantPlus

The list also includes HeadHunter, Работа.ру and bank sites, including Sberbank, VTB, Alfa Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, Rosbank, Unicredit Bank, popular online stores such as Wildberries, Ozon, Beru, Online Raid and some others.

The sections "E-mail, instant messengers and cloud storage of files," Online media and news aggregators, "" Culture, literature and art, "" Education and training, "" Health and a healthy lifestyle, "" Science, "" Sport "and State " organs and services "contain the largest number of resources.

In the period until June 1, 2020, an experiment will be conducted to provide free access to resources from the list, follows from the order of the Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Maksut Shadayev. Rostelecom, Mobile TeleSystems, Vympel Communications, Megafon and ER-Telecom Holding will participate in the experiment.

The user must have a valid contract with the provider to participate in the experiment. If the tariff provides for an Internet access speed of 10 Mbps and higher, providers can artificially underestimate the access speed to these resources up to 10 Mbps.

A month after the order was published, separate versions must be created for most of the resources that are included in the list, in which there will be no streaming video. This does not apply to sites included in the sections "Culture, literature and art," "Education and training," "Health and a healthy lifestyle" and "Science." In the absence of versions without streaming video, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications has the right to exclude such resources from the list^[16][17]

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications limited free sites to resources on Russian software

On March 24, 2020, it became known about the developed Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media amendments to the laws "On Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection" and "On Communications," within the framework of which the department decided to limit the list of socially significant sites with free access. Such resources, according to the document referred to, RBC should belong to citizens, Russia as well as provide access only to Russian content. 

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications has limited access to socially significant sites for foreigners

According to the plans of the Ministry of Communications, all resources that are included in the list of socially significant will have to meet the following criteria:

• use domain belonging to the group of constituents of the national domain zone;
• operate using computer programs and databases included  in the register of Russian software;
• provide access exclusively to domestic socially significant information resources and Russian content;
• the site hosting provider is a Russian legal entity, uses servers that have a conclusion on confirming industrial products in Russia, as well as software included in the register  of domestic software;
• the owner of the site is a Russian legal entity or a citizen of Russia.

The amendments proposed by the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications provide for the creation of a register of domestic socially significant information resources. The procedure for creating and maintaining this register will be determined by the government. 

According to the developer of the site Kremlin.ru Artem Geller, not too many sites fall under these criteria. Not even all government sites have a domain in the national domain zone, he notes.

Konstantin Astakhov, director of practice for digital products, platforms and services at CROC Digital Insight, believes that quite a few Russian sites fall under the criteria of the bill. 

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications told TASS Information Agency of Russia that the above criteria are irrelevant.^[18]

Notes