The ministry does not plan to introduce CPP in the near future, but the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has recently approved a draft amendment to the law on communications seeking to introduce CPP, Reiman said.

"On one hand it is a logical and fair system of call payment, but on the other hand, it is evident that introduction of the system would lead to amendments of telecommunications tariffs," Reiman said.

Reiman said that from January 1, 2006 charges for incoming calls for mobile subscribers might be abolished, but only after interconnect tariffs between operators of fixed and mobile networks have been established. CPP will only be introduced for subscribers paying for fixed-line calls by the minute Reiman said. In May, the Russian government adopted a set of telecommunication rules that require the introduction of CPP.

Russian mobile operators charge for most incoming fixed-to-mobile calls. They do offer free fixed-to-mobile incoming calls on some post-paid contracts.

Source: Prime-Tass -  WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News