Kyivstar continues to let traffic through the FSB
Everyone has heard the main myth in the field of security at least once. The phrase "I have nothing to hide" Security Professionals - over and over again.
Why, you ask, consider this argument here and now? Why not just tell people how to keep themselves safe with computer programs and other useful tools?
The argument "I have nothing to hide" is very popular with the organizers of various control and surveillance systems that "cut" our right to privacy. "Get your bag here and put everything out of your pockets," they say cheerfully.
In general, the position "I have nothing to hide" is destructive. She only looks as if the one who utters this phrase is bravely opening the visor. In fact, he is throwing a white flag. Strong supporters of the "I have nothing to hide" argument destroy their own motivation and reinforce in their minds the futility of any further actions to ensure security. Not a separate computer program, but in general any means, including (sometimes) legal, physical, psychological methods.
An article a year ago, but very relevant, especially now after the purchase of a full stake in Kyivstar by Russia. This is the only reason why you should leave Kyivstar forever, regardless of your political views, you should not expose yourself and your loved ones to danger, I mean that all your SMS, negotiations and all media files can get to third parties, it is not known at all where and when they will emerge. With Life, the situation looks like there are not many operators left in Ukraine who can be trusted.
Ukrainian users of broadband access services "Home Internet" and mobile Internet of the operator "Kyivstar" on the territory of Ukraine continue to face the blocking of sites, access to which was closed at the request of the Russian (!) "Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media More known as Roskomnadzor.
This situation has been going on for five years now, and it seems the company is doing nothing to globally solve this problem.
One of the latest cases of such blocking became known from a publication on the Debaltsevo.online website, where users located in regions in which martial law has been introduced complain that sites blocked by Roskomnadzor in the Russian Federation are also blocked for Kyivstar users in Ukraine.
Yesterday, an open question to the Kyivstar operator was posted on the Debaltsevo online Twitter account - why, when using the Internet, notifications from the Russian Beeline operator about the blocking of the resource by Roskomnadzor appear. It turned out that many receive messages about the blocking of resources by Roskomnadzor. It doesn't matter if you are using cable or mobile Internet.
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It is noteworthy that this state of affairs has existed since at least 2013.
Kyivstar has always focused its attention on the European path of development, trying to distance itself from Russian capital as much as possible. As the industry publication UIP writes, Until 2009, the shares were distributed among three companies - Norwegian Telenor, Russian Alfa Group and minority shareholders. The Norwegians were the main ones with 54%, until the Russian Federation decided to merge VimpelCom and Kyivstar. Both operators had the same shareholders and the Alpha group decided it would be easier to run the company. 2009 was a year of corporate war between Norwegian and Russian businessmen, and it all ended with the creation of a completely new company.
It was named VimpelCom Ltd. A holding company registered in the Bahamas with headquarters in the Netherlands. The same Telenor and Altimo, under which the Russian Alfa Group is hiding, became the majority shareholders in it. The Russians received a controlling stake and pushed the Norwegians to second place, gaining control, including over the Ukrainian operator.
In March 2017, the shareholders of Vimpelcom Ltd at an extraordinary meeting approved the renaming of the holding into VEON.
The Veon holding is controlled by Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne (manages the assets of Alfa Group, owns 47.9% of Veon), Telenor (19.7%) and The Stichting (8.3%). Free float is 24.1% of the shares.
Veon Ltd. owns assets in Russia (Vimpelcom provides services under the Beeline brand), in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Algeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Today Veon controls the Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar.
Conclusion - 26 million Ukrainian subscribers (and this is how many of them have Kievstar) go to the Internet through Russian servers. These servers are controlled by the special services of this country, which is waging an undeclared war against Ukraine, and Kyivstar, willingly or unwillingly, helps in this.
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Let's start with the obvious - MTS. The Mobile TeleSystems company bought UMC back in 2003, and 4 years later it solemnly awarded it with an egg on the logo. Eight years have passed and the tense political situation has led to the fact that several times the Ukrainian "daughter" was almost deprived of its license to provide telecom services. It turned out that part of the border areas with the Russian Federation used communications through the switches of a neighboring state, which put subscribers at risk and was directly prohibited by law. The operator paid off, but until February 2015 it could well have come under the hot hand of the law on sanctions against Russian companies. I had to reinsure myself again.
But this is not the only reason why MTS Ukraine suddenly found itself in the possession of the Dutch Preludium BV. The cooled relations between Europe and Russia make it impossible to do business without consequences for the image. Here comes the newcomer to resell the Ukrainian subsidiary, from whose assets in the Russian Federation they have been trying to get rid of for a year already. By the way, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile and Deutsche Telekom are named among the contenders for 20 million Ukrainian subscribers.
And now to the funniest. MTS Ukraine-Vodafone belongs to Preludium BV. Preludium BV is owned by the Luxembourg-based Allegretto Holding. Who owns 100% of the shares of Allegretto Holding? That's right, MTS Russia. The circle is complete. 34% of the Ukrainian cellular market is given to MTS Russia.
The Antimonopoly Committee gave permission to Bakcell from Azerbaijan to buy the second largest mobile operator in Ukraine - Vodafone Ukraine.
Bakcell is a mobile operator and leading mobile internet provider in Azerbaijan. It was founded in 1994 and was a joint venture between the government and the private Israeli company GTIB.
Currently, there is no exact information in open sources who is the main owner of Bakcell.
Bakcell's network of over 7.5 thousand base stations covers 93% of the territory (excluding the occupied territories) and 99% of the population of Azerbaijan. The company serves over 3 million people.
Vodafone Ukraine serves 19.7 million subscribers. Net profit of VF Ukraine in 2018 amounted to UAH 1.8 billion, income - UAH 12.8 billion.
The company is part of the MTS group (through two intermediate legal entities - the Luxembourg Allegretto Holding Sarl and the Dutch Preludium BV), in which the majority shareholder is Russian businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov.
MTS business in Ukraine, the head of the analytical department of Concorde Capital, Alexander Paraschiy, recently estimated at $ 1.2-1.3 billion.
What we have as a result, as I wrote earlier, the most delicious of the independent operators in Ukraine is the British lycamobile, 800 minutes per month for other operators and home phones and 12GB of Internet per month, for only 80 UAH. it is a virtual operator. holds servers throughout Europe, this operator does not work in Russia. And another operator for instance 3mob.ua, Ukrainian operator covers all of Ukraine do not have their antennas where the antennas are used 3mobile Vodafone
Tariff 3mob.ua Annual: 250 or 365 USD per year (rate 365grn a full 300 minutes per month), on the other operators are paying once a year - services are charged monthly throughout the year. Tariff 250 UAH per year has only
50 minutes monthly to other operators + roaming throughout Europe and the USA ..
50 SMS monthly
2500 MB monthly
The same operator that I have been using for a year www.lycamobile.ua 80 UAH Service package
800 min
Calls to other networks
Service package
40 min
Calls abroad to other networks
bundle
100SMS to other networksbundle
12 GBMobile Internet
Part second:
Operators will be inundated with fines for unwillingness to abandon foreign satellites in favor of Russian
The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill on fines for operators who prefer to use foreign satellite systems and do not want to build their domestic counterparts. The amount of the recovery will be up to RUB 1 million. The document had been waiting for consideration for almost a year, and the authorities began preparations for the mandatory "space" import substitution in the winter of 2019.
Forced import substitution
The State Duma deputies considered and adopted in the first reading a bill providing for punishment for telecom operators for evading the obligation to form a domestic satellite system. The innovation will affect operators using foreign satellite systems in their work.
The document provides for a punishment in the form of a fine in the amount of 500 thousand rubles. up to 1 million rubles. for legal entities. Officials will get off with a collection of 10 thousand rubles. up to 30 thousand rubles
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In addition, if the bill turns into a law, legal entities and officials will pay exactly the same fines if they do not fulfill their obligations to ensure the possibility of controlling the domestic satellite system from the territory of Russia. They will also be punished if they refuse to organize the transmission of traffic generated by subscriber stations on the territory of the country through the interface station of a Russian telecom operator located in Russia.
Threat to national security
According to the text of the explanatory note to the bill, it is being promoted in order to prevent “prevention of threats to national security caused by the use of foreign satellite communication systems on the territory of Russia. The document also indicates that the bill, which is an amendment to the current Code of Administrative Offenses, is aimed "at meeting the requirements of the Russian legislation on communications in terms of ensuring the activities of the system of operational-search measures."
A bill forgotten for a year
The document pushing telecom operators to the next stage of import substitution was prepared by the Russian Government back in the 4th quarter of 2020. As CNews reported, it was submitted to the State Duma for consideration in the last days of December 2020, that is, almost a year ago.
The bill bears the title "On Amendments to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses in terms of establishing liability for violation of the rules for the use of satellite communication networks." He passed the preliminary stages of verification within a month, after which he lay on the shelf for unknown reasons until mid-October 2021.
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On October 13, 2021, a responsible committee was appointed, it was the State Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation. At the end of October 2021, the document was recommended for consideration in the first reading, which was expected on November 16, 2021. As a result, the consideration was postponed six times, after which it still took place on December 9, 2021.
The bill passed the first reading, the second will probably take place already in 2022.The deadline for submitting amendments to the document is no later than January 7, 2022.
How operators are weaned from using foreign systems
The draft law under consideration in the State Duma is a consequence of actions previously taken by the Russian authorities to compel operators to form and use domestic satellite systems. The state began to move in this direction in the second half of February 2019.
The first stage was the government decree of February 21, 2019.The document imposes on Russian telecom operators using a foreign satellite system the obligation to form its domestic analogue. The same document also refers to the "traffic transmission" that is generated by terminals on the territory of Russia, "including stations of foreign subscribers with whom the Russian telecom operator has not entered into an agreement on the provision of communication services and who are roaming on Russian territory, through the Russian telecom operator ". For refusal to do so, if the bill is adopted, the operators will face monetary penalties.
Less than a week later, the Government made a number of changes to its own decree No. 1194 of November 14, 2014, significantly tightening the requirements for telecom operators using foreign satellite systems. The new requirements state that such operators must, without fail, obtain permission to use foreign satellite communication systems from the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF).
In addition to this, the operators are now forced to conclude an agreement with the owner of such a system and simultaneously ask the Ministry of Digital Security, the Ministry of Defense, the FSB and the FSO for a conclusion that such a system "is not of an intelligence nature and cannot harm the interests of the individual, society and Russia."
In early June 2019, the Ministry of Digital Industry, at that time still the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications , initiated the development of a bill providing for fines for illegal use of foreign satellite systems. The document suggested that officials be fined in the amount of 10 thousand rubles or more. up to 30 rubles, and from legal entities to collect from 500 thousand rubles. up to 1 million rubles. Also, fines were supposed to be from 70 thousand rubles. up to 200 thousand rubles for those who conduct business without the formation of a legal entity (unincorporated business).
Russian satellite systems
In October 2020, the mobile operator Megafon announced plans to invest 6 billion rubles. in the construction of a low-orbit satellite system for high-speed data transmission. To develop the project, it was proposed to open a new company, Megafon 1440, and appoint him as the head of the co-founder of Yadro, Alexey Shelobkov. Plans were announced to launch the first satellites closer to 2025.
In May 2021, CNews wrote about the plans of the Russian Government to build a domestic "satellite constellation of fast Internet access throughout the country without restrictions on cheap tariffs." The cost of the project, according to preliminary estimates, should amount to 151 billion rubles.
Mintsifry also leads the development of its network cost 42 billion rubles. It is called "Express-RV" and consists of four satellites, and its launch is scheduled for 2024. For comparison, the American network of StarLink has almost 1,700 satellites, and the British OneWeb includes almost 200 spacecraft.
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Part 3. The use of satellite networks under the new rules
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According to the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, "On Amendments to the Rules for the Use of the Territory of the Russian Federation of Satellite Communication Networks Under the Jurisdiction of Foreign States", published on February 26, 2019, the new rules came into force.
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Now foreign satellite operators must obtain special permission from the domestic special services to work with Russian subscribers, and all traffic must be passed through the interface station of the Russian telecom operator.
The use of satellite networks under the new rules
From 26.08.2019, new requirements for the use of foreign satellite communication networks in Russia came into force:
- foreign satellite operators must obtain special permission from the domestic special services to work with Russian subscribers;
- all traffic must be passed through the gateway of the Russian telecom operator.
According to the last requirement in more detail - this means that all traffic that comes from satellite devices of subscribers from Russia, including from foreign subscribers who are roaming on the territory of the country, must pass through the interface station of the Russian telecom operator - a ground station, which acts as an intermediary between the satellite and the subscriber's device when receiving a signal from space, and the station must be located on the territory of Russia.
Previously, Russian telecom operators that use "foreign mobile personal satellite communications" were required to create in Russia so-called gateways to public networks. And then these interfaces can be combined with technical solutions to ensure the legal interception, collection and processing of information in order to ensure the conduct of operational investigative measures on the networks of telecom operators (SORM2, SORM3, Federal Law No. 374-FZ ("Yarovaya package").
In June 2019, the Government of the Russian Federation proposed to supplement the Code of Administrative Offenses with Article 13.41 "Violation of the rules for the use of satellite communication networks under the jurisdiction of foreign states on the territory of the Russian Federation" by posting the corresponding draft federal law on the federal portal of draft regulatory legal acts. For violators of the new norm, the Cabinet of Ministers proposes to introduce fines: for officials it will be up to 30 thousand rubles, for individual entrepreneurs - up to 200 thousand rubles, and for legal entities - up to one million rubles.
At the beginning of August 219, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade published a negative opinion on the assessment of the regulatory impact on the page of the document. The Ministry “concluded that there was no sufficient justification for solving the problem by the proposed method of regulation and that the draft act contained provisions introducing excessive obligations, prohibitions and restrictions for individuals and legal entities in the field of entrepreneurial and other economic activities or facilitating their introduction, as well as provisions, leading to the emergence of unjustified expenses of individuals and legal entities in the field of entrepreneurial and other economic activities, as well as budgets of all levels of the budgetary system of the Russian Federation. "
@black_triangle_tg
