Russia’s free internet made available starting 1 April

Publication date: 30 March 2020

Russia Launches Free Internet Access to Vital Websites April 1

Starting 1 April (instead of 1 June as previously planned) 2020, Russian telecom operators have to provide free access to socially-significant online resources.

The list of these resources will be defined by the Expert Council of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation. Free access will be given to all telecom subscribers who are registered in the Unified System for Identification and Authentication.

The service will be provided regardless of the status of the subscriber’s account, but at the same time will be of quality comparable to paid services. Among socially-significant resources will be both government and public websites and services, including Russia’s public services portal, popular social networks, messengers, online media resources, etc.

Telecom operators have already started fulfilling the requirements. For example, VimpelCom telecom company has developed “Cube!”, an application with links to more than 300 websites of public authorities. MTS network operator can provide access to socially-significant resources through its mobile application.