MOSCOW, December 24 (RAPSI) – A bill amending Russia’s Code of Administrative Offences to the effect that domestic communications service providers (CSPs) are to be fined if failing to pass traffic from foreign satellites through Russian earth-based stations has been developed, according to Chairman of the Association of Russian Lawyers Vladimir Gruzdev.

Fines planned to be introduced range from 10,000 to 30,000 rubles ($130 to $400 at the current exchange rate) for individuals and from 500,000 to 1 million rubles ($6,700 to $13,300) for legal persons, Gruzdev says reminding that at present four global mobile satellite communications systems operate over the Russian territory: Inmarsat, Globalstar, Thuraya, and Iridium. Domestic CSPs connecting to such systems are obliged to establish land-based gateways in the Russian territory to pass the traffic of the users being in the national territory as per instructions of the Russian Government issued last year.

The gateways are to be used for absolutely all the traffic of communications devices in the Russian territory including those used by foreign nationals, Gruzdev stressed.