Beltelecom may lose up to Br 600 billion due to de-monopolization
He says that tariffs for local calls should be raised up to at least the cost price. Otherwise, losses will be huge.
The Ministry of Communication proposed to the parliament to amend the law on electrical communication in order to de-monopolize the market of communication services. But Beltelecom should not worry, because the process of de-monopolization can take years.
“Given that this legislation has been sent for revision and that it envisages the change of tariffs for local and inter-city communications, the law is unlikely to be passed. It makes no sense to pass it now before these services are regulated”.
Raising the local tariffs inside the country will not be an easy task, because the population will simply not understand it. If de-monopolization takes place without tariff regulation, losses will be huge.
“Our losses were voiced. Beltelecom would lose up to Br 600 billion due to de-monopolization. We need to bring the tariffs at least to the level of the cost price. The previous plan was to raise the local tariffs within two years. If we raise the tariffs by 50 percent at once, people will simply not understand it. Most likely, this legislations will not be passed before tariffs have been regulated”, Fedarenchyk said.
Beltelecom today survives thanks to international calls. In order to cover the expenditures for local calls, international calls are made expensive. That’s why international calls in Belarus are more expensive than in other countries of the world. When de-monopolization takes place, international calls will be made cheaper. At the same time, local calls will become more expensive.
It is interesting but Beltelecom has a monopoly only for international calls and the internet. Theoretically, other telecom companies can arrive at the local market. But nobody wants to take risks. It is not a profitable business in Belarus, says Alyaksei Fedarenchyk.
“Some companies tried to deal with this business. But it is not profitable, because tariffs are very low. In principle, they are loss-making. We don’t have a monopoly for the construction of networks and the local telephony. The costs of these services are regulated by the government. Nobody will want to work in the red”.
Yury Shpak, the head of the telecom department at the Ministry of Communication, does not pay a lot of attention to the fact that the ministry tabled the draft proposal to amend the legislation.
“It is only a draft law. Nothing has changed”.
Lawmakers confirmed to the European Radio for Belarus that the legislation was being revised and was expected to be considered at the next session of the parliament.
