РБК daily: "Sistema lobbies for import ban on devices that don’t support GLONASS"
Sistema lobbies for import ban on devices that don’t support GLONASS.
Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the primary shareholder of the Sistema financial services conglomerate, proposed an import ban on any radios, telephones, portable computers or smart phones that support GPS rather than GLONASS, the Russian version of the global navigation system. Although his proposal, made at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on July 18, aroused concern among market players, they are determined to abide by the new regulation, should it be passed.
During his meeting with Vladimir Putin, Yevtushenkov proposed levying a requirement on producers of GPS-equipped mobile handsets, communicators and similar devices to install an additional chip that receives signals from the GLONASS global satellite navigation system as well.
“We have met with nearly all suppliers of portable devices, including Nokia, Siemens, and Motorola,” Yevtushenkov told the prime minister. “They all understand that sooner or later Russia will close its market to non-GLONASS equipment. They only request that the process be formalised legally.”
Nokia spokesperson Viktoria Yeryomina confirmed the talks with Sistema, while adding that she had no comment on Yevtushenkov’s proposal.
Yevtushenkov promised that pilot products will be available before the end of 2010. He is confident that equipment suppliers will have no problem observing the new requirement because “the Americans protected their market in much the same way when they introduced the Global Positioning System.”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked that at this stage, the proposal is purely conceptual and is subject to finalisation. “Specific instructions will be issued next week that will provide guidelines for further work,” he said.
A source in Navigation and Information Systems (NIS), the Russian company that provides navigation services based on the GLONASS system, agreed that there should not be any problems. The change will not affect corporate customers at all, while all issues relating to consumer devices should be resolved soon. Once GLONASS equipment is reworked to meet international standards, it could be integrated into mobile phones and other products distributed by global manufacturers.
Ivan Nechaev, CEO of Russian Navigation Technologies (RNT), in turn, believes that such limitations will adversely affect the market and encourage mala fide competition.
“It would be unwise to completely ban the import of GPS-equipped devices. The best method would be to adopt a special pricing policy,” he said. However, even this measure would be much more successful in the public sector (i.e., by installing navigational devices in transport) than on the private market.
A Motorola source said that they would only import equipment that meets current Russian laws. “If GPS-equipped devices are banned, we will not import them anymore,” the source said, adding that the possibility of integrating GLONASS chips into Motorola products is not yet being considered.
If the ban is passed, it will not only apply to GPS navigators but to all mobile equipment, such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and even iPhone handsets currently operating with GPS chips.
Vitaly Petlevoi
