IP telephony (Russian market)

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2023:30% of companies in the Russian Federation switched to Russian IP-PBX instead of foreign

30% of companies in the Russian Federation in 2023 switched to Russian IP-PBXs instead of foreign ones. This is stated in a study conducted by the developer and integrator in the field of corporate IP telephony and voice technologies "Avantelecom." The data was published in early March 2024.

According to the report, in 2023, 10% of Russian companies switched to domestic equipment in the field of corporate telephony. Another 10% started using Open Source solutions based on Asterisk VoIP servers. About half of the business representatives surveyed have already launched pilot projects or are considering options for reengineering the telephone network in 2024, according to a study released in early March 2024.

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The trend towards import substitution continues to intensify, and every year more and more companies and state organizations are thinking about switching to the solutions of Russian IT companies, "said Vladislav Viryasov, director of Avantelecom.

The company recalled that in 2022, foreign manufacturers of corporate telephony systems (including Cisco and Avaya), which accounted for most of the market, closed their Russian offices and stopped supporting in Russia. Against this background, Russian business began to actively transfer IT infrastructure to domestic counterparts. The transition to domestic software until the end of 2024 is regulated by the Decree of the President of Russia of March 30, 2022 No. 166 "On measures to ensure the technological independence and security of Russia's critical information infrastructure." By the end of 2024, a number of companies used a mixed infrastructure that combined several solutions, including 10% with analog telephony, Aventelecom said^[1]

2017: Discovery Research Group Data

At the end of 2017, the volume of the IP telephony market in Russia is estimated at 7.9 billion rubles. At the beginning of 2017, the volume of the virtual PBX segment amounted to 3.8 billion rubles, and the average annual growth rate was recorded at 30%. According to DISCOVERY Research Group, the growth of the virtual PBX market in Russia will continue until 2021 and will reach 9.7 billion rubles. While the IP telephony market as a whole will grow to 14.2 billion rubles by 2021. According to analysts, the Russian IP telephony market, although lagging behind the world (according to experts by 1-3 years), is developing within the framework of global trends.

At the beginning of 2017, the leaders in terms of the number of clients in the Russian virtual PBX market were: Mango Telecom - 25% of the market share, followed by MTS - 16%. In third place is UIScom - 11%. Further, Telfin, like Zebra Telecom, has 10% of the market. MTT - 9.8%, MCN Telecom took 4.7% of the market. The newcomer of the segment - Yandex.Telephony - has 4.5%. Other companies occupy 7.4% of the market.

2016: Data from J'son & Partners and TelecomDaily

According to J'son & Partners forecasts, by the end of 2016, the volume of the virtual PBX market will increase to 3.8 billion rubles, and the average annual market growth rate for the period from 2010 to 2016 will be 30%. The growth of the virtual PBX market will occur against the background of a decline in the fixed telephony market in the B2B segment. The decline in revenues in this segment during the period under review, according to J'son & Partners estimates, will occur at an average annual rate of about 2%.

According to TelecomDaily, the volume of the Russian market for virtual PBXs (cloud telephony) in 2016 will be able to reach 2.9 billion rubles. (in 2015 2.5 billion rubles, in 2014 amounted to 2.28 billion rubles). Growth will be 16%. At the same time, the fixed telephony market has already fallen for the third year in a row.

The largest players in the virtual PBX market are Mango Telecom, Telfin and You Magic (MTT). In 2017, Yandex.Telephony will be able to enter the top five in terms of revenue.

The dynamic market of virtual PBXs, which has shown growth in recent years, draws attention to the market of new players and mobilizes the work of major companies.

The main participants in the virtual PBX market in Moscow are specialized players: Mango Telecom, Telfin, Uiscom, You Magic (MTT), Yandex.Telephony, Zebra Telecom, Octoline and Gravitel. Also, large operators of corporate telephony services offer their services in terms of virtual/cloud PBXs: Bilain.Business, MTS, Megafon and Rostelecom, but as a rule, in conjunction with the main services.

Average monthly expenses

The market for virtual PBX services in Moscow is quite well developed, there are both specialized players and federal telecom service operators, but the former provide a more comprehensive offer, allowing the package to choose both PBX rental rates and virtual numbers. In terms of convenience and ease of starting work, specialized operators also appear in a more favorable light, since a number of companies, for example, Mango Office, Zebra Telecom, Yandex.Telephony, Octoline and Gravitel, allow you to start using services immediately after simple registration and replenishment of accounts (sometimes it is not required). All providers offer a wide range of payment options: by default, these are electronic money, bank cards and cashless transfers. The maximum number of payment methods offers "Telfin."

The functionality of the personal account is quite worked out by most companies, it should be noted the personal accounts of YouMagic and Yandex.Telephony, which allow you to make calls directly through a web browser. Most providers support work with smartphones or tablets through third-party applications (softphones), their own applications for Android and iOS have Yandex.Telephony, YouMagic, Zebra Telecom and Gravitel.

Providers offer balanced lines of tariff plans for renting a virtual PBX and communication services on virtual numbers. The real difference between tariffs lies in a number of options and packages that are addressed to certain niches of users. For example, Yandex.Telephony is distinguished by dynamic pricing (the larger the volume of calls, the lower the tariff), Telfin offers unlimited calls to 55 countries around the world, Gravitel offers individual pricing for enterprise customers.

Trial tariffs and shares for renting PBXs from Zebra Telecom, YouMagic, Gravitel and Yandex.Telephony offer to start using the virtual PBX service without additional costs in the first 7-14 days.

As part of the TelecomDaily study, the amount of the average monthly expenses of the first month of use for renting a virtual PBX from the main operators was estimated. The cost of renting a PBX and connecting a virtual number in the + 7 (495) code was taken into account, plus 500 minutes outgoing to fixed numbers and 500 minutes outgoing to mobile numbers. See the SIP.xls Rates file for detailed calculations. According to the data received, Yandex.Telephony (Start tariff) and Zebra Telecom (Free tariff) had the lowest cost "entry point" to start working with the virtual PBX service and: subscribers can spend 890 rubles and 990 rubles on connection and communication in the first month, respectively. Also, the low cost is distinguished by the Pro tariff for the Yandex service (1889 rubles/month) and the Home tariff for Zebra (1390 rubles/month). Subscribers of other providers per month on the declared service packages will have to spend from 2000 to 6000 rubles.

According to the totality of these characteristics (convenience and ease of connection, ease of "entering" the service, working out the functionality, support for mobile communication channels), the offers of YouMagic, Zebra Telecom, Yandex.Telephony and Gravitel services should be highlighted. Uiscom, Zebra Telecom, Telfin, Mango Office have a number of advantages in terms of organizing sales channels.

Availability of period promo

Among specialized players, the ability to test the virtual PBX service within the framework of certain tariffs is provided for Yandex.Telephony (Trial tariff - 14 days for free plus 150 minutes as a gift), YouMagic (Testovy tariff - 7 days for free plus 300 minutes as a gift). Among federal players, 7 days of promo is provided by Rostelecom and 14 days of promo by MTS (at all tariffs of the line).

Numbers in the package

A number of operators in the virtual PBX service provide a multi-channel phone number for rent for free, but in this case, as a rule, you need to pay for its connection. Some operators, for example, Yandex Telephony, provide the opportunity to immediately start using a multi-channel city number without payment when renting a virtual PBX. Usually, the numbers of virtual PBX providers have a fee not only for connection, but also for subscriber service, but the numbers received as part of the promo are subsequently used without a subscription fee.

2015: Data from iKS-Consulting

• The volume of the segment of virtual PBXs and other applications for telephony in 2015 in public clouds amounted to 3.6 billion rubles.
• According to the forecast of iKS-Consulting, in 2016 the number of clients of virtual PBX services will be 149.9 thousand clients.
• The market leader in virtual PBXs and other telephony applications is traditionally Mango Office"," which accounted for 28% of the market in 2015. Among the major market players, the companies MTS"" (13%), UIS"" (12%), MTT"" (11%), Telfin"" (9%) and Zebra Telecom"" (9%) can also be noted.
• New players continue to enter the virtual PBX market

2012: Data from J'son & Partners Consulting

Voice Internet traffic in Russia in the first quarter 2012 grew in comparison with the same period of last year by 28%, and in general for 2011 this indicator grew by 4 times, having made 3.7 billion minutes. Such data were reported by the research company J'son & Partners Consulting.

In 2011, 22 million Ros­sii of IP na­schi­ty­va­los pol­zo­va­te­ley in the te­le­fo­nii. Ozhi­da­et­sya that by the ito­gam of 2012, the number of IP pol­zo­va­te­ley te­le­fo­nii vy­ras­tet to 27 million, and by the end of 2015 - to 37 million.

The most po­pu­lyar­nym in the Ros­sii is VoIP ser­vi­som osta­et­sya Skype. It in popularity is followed by calls through a mail service Mail.​ru and social networks (""Od­no­klass­ni­ki, ""VKon­tak­te), QIP"" Mul­ti­fon(service of the operator""Me­ga­fon) SIPNET (Sipnet), Google Hangouts"" and Zebra Te­le­kom. Betamax

According to J'son & Partners, according to the results of 2011, there were 22 million users of IP telephony in Russia, including users of P2P telephony such as Skype (which corresponds to a penetration rate of more than 14%). According to forecasts, in 2012 these indicators will grow to 27 million and 17.3%, and by the end of 2015 - to 37 million and 23.5%, respectively.

In the corporate segment, the main share of revenues is occupied by long-distance and international communication services in IP networks, virtual PBX services accounted for 45% of the market. More than 90% of the Russian virtual PBX market in 2011 was concentrated in the two largest cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The average annual ARPU per consumer of the virtual PBX service for the period from 2010 to 2012 will demonstrate a significant (more than 50%) growth: from 19.4 to 29.3 thousand rubles. At the same time, a similar indicator of fixed telephony services for the same period will decrease by 24%: from 57.5 to 43.8 thousand rubles.

The above trends will continue for the period from 2012 to 2016. At the same time, the decrease in the average annual ARPU of fixed telephony will occur at the specified time interval with an average annual rate of about 8%, and the ARPU of the virtual PBX service in 2015 will exceed the same indicator in the fixed telephony segment. Consumers of virtual PBX are about 37 thousand enterprises of medium and small businesses and about 10 thousand companies of large business.

According to the results of the study, among SMB companies for virtual PBX services, the greatest demand was recorded among retail/sales enterprises, ICT sector firms and industrial companies. The total volume of the service market for enterprises of these sectors is 45% of the total market for virtual PBX services for SMB companies.

For large businesses, the virtual PBX service is most in demand among public sector companies, the ICT sector and industrial enterprises. The total volume of the service market for companies in these sectors is about 50% of the total market for virtual PBX services for SMB firms.

2011: Data from J'son & Partners Consulting

Voice traffic in Russian IP telephony networks in 2011 quadrupled and reached 3.7 billion minutes, according to a report by J'son & Partners Consulting.

VoIP providers (operators of voice services in data networks) only in the IV quarter of 2011 managed to earn 900 million rubles from their services. or $30 million, analysts say. This amount did not include the revenue of foreign VoIP operators such as Skype and Google Talk.

In total Russia , in 2011 there were 22 million users of IP telephony (including), Skype which corresponds to the penetration rate of this service of approximately 14%. As expected, in 2012 this figure will grow to 27 million users, and by the end of 2015 - to 37 million (with a penetration rate of 17.3% and 23.5%, respectively^[2]

The growth factors of the VoIP market in Russia will remain the development of the fixed and mobile broadband access market, the growth of the activity of VoIP providers and the preservation of high tariffs for long-distance communication.

The level of development of IP telephony services in Russia compared to the leading countries of J'son & Partners is characterized as low. Analysts emphasize that VoIP projects of small alternative operators are developing most actively in the country.

A survey of mobile users commissioned by J'son & Partners Consulting in Russian cities with a population of one million in August 2012 showed that two-thirds of respondents have experience in voice calls via the Internet or experience in using IP telephony cards.

Number of users and penetration of VoIP services in Russia

Source: J'son & Partners

The most popular VoIP service in Russia remains the leading Skype by a wide margin. It is followed in popularity by calls through the postal service Mail.ru and social networks (Odnoklassniki, VKontakte), QIP, Multifon (service of the Megafon operator), SIPNET, Google Talk, Zebra Telecom and Betamax.

Among the main reason why the respondents do not use IP telephony are the lack of need for such a service or a lack of understanding of how to use it.

At the same time, the rapid growth of corporate IP telephony, including virtual PBX (IP-Centrex) services, is noticeable in Russia. These services brought their providers in 2011 from 1 to 1.5 billion rubles. According to the results of 2011, the entire IP-telephony operator market amounted to 4-4.5 billion rubles, and the bulk of it was brought by corporate clients.

More than half of the VoIP services consumed by corporate clients fell on long-distance and international communications, and 45% on virtual PBX services. More than 90% of the Russian virtual PBX market in 2011 was in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and in the capital the operator Mango Office (Mango Telecom) became the market leader.

Consumers of virtual PBX services, according to J'son & Partners estimates, in 2011 were 37 thousand SMB enterprises and about 10 thousand large business companies. The largest interest in these services was shown by companies engaged in retail, working in IT and telecom, as well as industrial enterprises. Companies in these segments formed up to 45% of the IP-Centrex service market.

Among large business companies, IP-Centrex was in demand in the public sector, IT and telecom and industry of companies, whose costs accounted for about 50% of the market.

2010: Data from J'son & Partners Consulting

"" The entire volume of the Russian IP telephony market in 2010, according to J'son's estimates, doubled to $29.2 million. Much more - about $60 million, said Zebra Telecom CEO Sergei Kudrin^[3]. "'

It was the popularity of peer-to-peer solutions such as Skype or SIPNET (Sipnet) that contributed to the growth in the number of IP telephony users in Russia: in 2010 there were 82% more of them - 11.3 million people, says Vitaly Solonin, head of the J'son & Partners department.

The Russian service SIPNET (Sipnet) occupied 52% of the Russian IP telephony market by income in 2010, German Myzovsky, a leading specialist at Sipnet, said on October 19, 2011, citing data from J'son & Partners. The share of Skype, according to the same data, was only 32%. These figures were confirmed by the head of the department of J'son & Partners Vitaly Solonin.

Skype, according to his calculations, is the undisputed leader in the number of users in Russia - approximately 70% of IP telephony subscribers at the end of 2010 used Skype. Sipnet in 2010 had more than 1.5 million paying users, which is approximately 13% of the market, Solonin believes.

But Sipnet has more corporate clients, and therefore the average income per user is higher, explains the representative of J'son. The fact is that Sipnet in Russia operates absolutely legally, it has a license to transfer data for voice communication, and Skype is a global Internet company and does not have a special Russian license, i.e. its clients risk more, he says. In addition, the voice transfer protocol used by Sipnet over the SIP IP network (session initiation protocol) is open and therefore supported by a large number of VoIP devices, explains Myzovsky from Sipnet. In the first quarter of 2011, corporate users, of which Sipnet has about 8,000, brought the company an average of $60 per month, and private users - about $4.3 per month, he adds. Skype, on average, had a subscriber account of $0.11 in the world, Solonin knows.

Finally, Skype and Sipnet have a different audience: if Skype is perceived primarily as a service for free calls from computer to computer, then Sipnet is initially positioned as a service for cheap, but still paid calls, adds Solonin.

See also

• IP Telephony (Home Page)
• IP Telephony Projects
• Enterprise Telephony Solutions (Global)
• PBX - Office PBXs (Global Market)
• PBX - Office PBXs (Russian Market)

Notes