InAU sent a letter to the Chairman of the VRU and heads of parliamentary factions: Letter No. 101/1-10 dated November 28, 2023 VRU regarding consideration of the draft Law on the Register . No. 9593 dated August 9, 2023 .The association calls on the parliamentarians to include in the agenda of the VRU and adopt as a priority draft law No. 9593 “on the prohibition of dismantling of electronic communication networks in emergency situations, state of emergency and martial law”.
Here is the text of the letter
The Internet Association of Ukraine (IAU), which unites more than 220 enterprises in the field of information and communication technologies and providers of electronic communication networks and services, expresses our respect to you and addresses the following.
On August 9, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine under No. 9593 registered a draft Law on Amendments to Article 115 of the Law of Ukraine “On Electronic Communications” (regarding assistance in ensuring the stable functioning of electronic communication networks and the provision of electronic communication services, as well as the prohibition of dismantling electronic communication networks in the conditions of emergency situations, state of emergency and martial law) (hereinafter referred to as the draft Law), the initiators of which are People’s Deputies of Ukraine O.P. Fedienko, V.O. Zub. and other.
The provisions of the draft Law are aimed at regulating the issue of dismantling electronic communication networks in emergency situations, state of emergency and martial law, which is extremely urgent for providers of electronic communication networks and services to ensure the stable functioning of electronic communication networks and, accordingly, stable and high-quality provision of electronic communication services to subscribers during the legal regime of martial law introduced by Decree of the President of Ukraine dated 24.02.2022 No. 64/2022 “On the introduction of martial law in Ukraine”, approved by Law No. 2102-IX dated 24.02.2022 (as amended). The provisions of this law will be an effective safeguard against illegal actions of the owners (owners) of the infrastructure of access objects, using which networks are placed for the provision of electronic communication services, which by their illegal actions cause not only financial losses to suppliers, but also endanger the suspension of the provision of electronic communication services services to certain subscribers during the legal regime of martial law.
The mentioned draft of the Law prohibits the dismantling of electronic communication networks or their parts in emergency situations, state of emergency and martial law without a court decision, and at the same time, military administrations must assist ECMP providers in ensuring the stable functioning of electronic communication networks and the provision of electronic communication services.
The need to adopt such a Law is caused by cases of unjustified termination of the provision of electronic communication services due to illegal actions of the owners of telecommunications infrastructure objects, which have recently become systemic. InAU sent a letter dated 25.08.2023 under No. 76/1-6 to the relevant committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine regarding the urgent need to adopt this draft Law, which lists a number of such specific cases (a copy of the letter is attached).
The Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on issues of digital transformation issued the Opinion dated 19.10.2023 No. 04-33/03-2023/230723, which recommended the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to include the draft Law in the agenda of the tenth session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the IX convocation and following the results of consideration in the first reading take it as a basis.
Adoption of the draft Law is one of the conditions for compliance by providers of electronic communication services with the requirements of the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 802/2022 “On the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated November 26, 2022 “On the provision of electronic communication services under martial law”, in particular, regarding the provision provision of electronic communication services in compliance with the established quality indicators for the list of objects defined by the relevant orders of the NCU .
However, to date, the draft Law has not been included in the agenda of the session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and has not been considered by the people’s deputies of Ukraine, which endangers the stability of quality provision of electronic communication services to subscribers during the period of the legal regime of martial law and the implementation of relevant decisions of the NSDC of Ukraine .
In this regard, InAU addresses the following:
- We ask the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, heads of parliamentary factions and groups to include consideration of the draft Law as a priority in the agenda of the session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as soon as possible for consideration at the next meeting and to vote for the adoption of the law.
- The Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Digital Transformation issues is requested to organize an event (a separate meeting or consideration of a separate issue during a committee meeting) with the involvement of representatives of specialized associations in the field of electronic communications, suppliers, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the NSDC of Ukraine and other interested authorities, and to discuss issues of urgency and taking measures to introduce the draft Law as soon as possible for consideration by the People’s Deputies of Ukraine, as well as topical issues of providing electronic communication services under martial law and during the post-war recovery period.
In fact, this draft law was late for about a year and a half!
Because in addition to racists, Internet networks suffer from the arbitrariness of Ukrainian energy and utility tsars, who destroy them for bribes.
Despite the fact that repair crews risk the lives of their employees repairing damaged networks! What is more, those networks are often used by the Armed Forces in addition to residents!
Source: https://internetua.com/