Russian telecom giant Rostelecom offers smaller internet providers relief from surveillance costs. In exchange, it wants their customers — and most of their revenue.

Russia’s largest nationwide telecommunications operators, Rostelecom and TransTeleCom, have begun offering small regional providers service agreements under which the providers would hand over their infrastructure and subscriber bases, Kommersant reported after reviewing the presentations.

Under Rostelecom’s proposal, regional operators would transfer their subscribers, communications lines, and technical support to the company. In return, they would keep 30–40% of revenue and no longer have to cover SORM costs (up to 15 million rubles a year), payroll (up to 16 million rubles a year), or contributions to the universal service fund (at least 1 million rubles a year). The proposal also promises to reduce their exposure to regulatory risk.

TransTeleCom’s proposal outlines fixed virtual network operator (FVNO) models. Under these models, regional operators would no longer need a license or have regulatory obligations. In return, they would receive a share of revenue and retain the “last mile.”

A source told Kommersant that the proposals involve “strictly commercial and voluntary” cooperation.

Representatives of small providers say that under these terms, operators would “effectively become installers.” Rostelecom used to “at least buy companies,” but now it is effectively offering terms under which it “takes 60% of the business” without investing anything, said Yaroslav Dubovikov, executive director of the Association of Telecommunications Companies.

In April 2026, reports emerged that the Ministry of Digital Development was discussing stricter requirements for telecommunications operators with industry representatives. Among other measures, the ministry proposed introducing three types of licenses that could cost between 1 million and 50 million rubles, depending on the category. The Association of Telecommunications Operators warned that the proposal could leave 27 regions without local internet providers.

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• Russia has spent a decade trying to stop people from bypassing internet censorship. Now it plans to spend nearly 60 billion rubles over three years on traffic filtering.

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