Communications Minister comments on time-based billing of phone calls

The time-based billing system of telephone calls should be introduced whena region is ready for this procedure and a region's governor agrees withit. Communications Minister Leonid Reyman was quoted as saying this at ameeting devoted to problems of developing informational communication inthe Far Eastern Federal District, the press service of the CommunicationsMinistry reported. Reyman pointed out that at the fall session of the StateDuma the deputies would consider the bill on communications and thisdocument did not envisage any mechanism of a compulsory introduction of thetime-based billing system. The procedure of calculating rates for phonecalls has already been approved by the Anti-Monopoly Ministry, the Ministerspecified. The practice shows that in the regions where the time-basedbilling system has been introduced, the majority of subscribers pay lessfor local telephone calls than their monthly fees, Reyman stressed..