Roaming in Russia

Main article: Cellular communications (Russian market)

How roaming works

Main article: Roaming

2024

Signing with Belarus of final documents on the abolition of roaming

On November 5, 2024, the Council of Ministers of states the Union approved a resolution "On the creation of comfortable tariffs for the use of communication and data transfer services on the territory of the Union State," providing for the abolition roaming of March 1, 2025. More here

Tele2 is the first Russian operator to cancel roaming in Crimea

On June 18, 2024, Tele2, owned by Rostelecom, was the first Russian telecom operator to announce the abolition of roaming in Crimea and Sevastopol. The changes will take effect in the fall of 2024. Read more here.

2023: Russia agrees to cancel roaming with Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan and gives timeline

Russia agreed to cancel international cellular roaming with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, which are members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), by 2025. This is stated in the appendix to the request of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), sent to all major mobile operators of the allied states and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia on March 16, 2023. Read more here.

2022

National roaming launched in DPR, LPR, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions

In November 2022, the Russian operators VimpelCom, Megafon and Tele2 agreed to launch national roaming (the ability to use the network of another mobile operator within the same country) on the territory of the DPR, LPR, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions. As for MTS, this company will introduce a similar service in these regions by the end of 2022.

The fact that subscribers of mobile operators of the "Big Four" will be able to get through to the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, write Sheets"." The newspaper reminds that for all regions, except Crimea for Sevastopol, national roaming was canceled by a government decree in May 2019. This means that for subscribers in the home region and when traveling around the country, the conditions for receiving communication services should be the same. The operators agreed that national roaming will operate on "Crimean" conditions, according to the publication of the publication.

National roaming launched in DPR, LPR, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions

By December 2022, the Republican Telecom Operator and Lugak have been operating on the territory of the DPR and LPR since 2014. In the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, the Republican Telecom Operator and the Russian operators Mirtelecom and the subsidiary of the Crimean Vivacell-MTS + 7telecom operate. But there were no agreements between these operators on the mutual passage of traffic with the Big Four.

The + 7telecom has roaming agreements with the Big Four, the company provides them with service in the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions, a representative of the operator told the newspaper. A minute for a subscriber costs 4.95 rubles, SMS - 2.95 rubles, he noted in December 2022.

Beeline is constantly working with local roaming partners, a representative of the operator told the publication. He declined to comment on the terms, citing trade secrets.^[1]

Foreign roaming among Russian operators has risen in price by 40% since the beginning of the year

On September 9, 2022, it became known about the rise in price of foreign roaming from Russian telecommunications companies since the start of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine (February 24, 2022). The growth range for such services was 5-40%, while the cost of options rose by about 40-60%.

The Kommersant newspaper compared the prices for services from leading Russian operators with tariffs in 2021. For example, MTS raised the cost of calls to popular destinations - Turkey, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Spain and other states. Now a minute of outgoing and incoming calls to Russia costs 85 rubles (previously - 60 rubles). At VimpelCom in popular destinations (Great Britain, Georgia, Turkey and others), this figure is 45 rubles, in 2021 - 35.

Foreign roaming among Russian operators has risen in price by 40%

The press service of VimpelCom told the publication that they had changed the terms of service in roaming back in April due to "the unstable exchange rate of the national currency and a significant discount on communication services abroad, which the operator had at that time regarding the proposals of other market players."

According to experts interviewed by the newspaper, before the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, operators had low prices for basic roaming services, since they could buy traffic from foreign partners in large volumes, the number of Russians traveling abroad decreased during the pandemic, so it became unprofitable to purchase large volumes of traffic. An increase in roaming prices may lead to a return in popularity of tourist SIM cards, the interest in which was low during cheap roaming, the expert said.

The costs of operators for the purchase of equipment, in particular, have increased, and they are looking for new opportunities to increase revenue, including through roaming, said Konstantin Ankilov, general director of TMT Consulting.^[2]

Free incoming calls in Russia and Belarus

From April 1, 2022, Russia and Belarus canceled the fee for incoming calls. The decision was made on March 23, 2022, at a meeting of the High-Level Group of the Council of Ministers of the Union State. This is an important result of the road map for the implementation of the resolution of the Supreme State Council, signed on December 20, 2019. This was reported by Ministry of Digital Development on March 31, 2022.

Before canceling the plans for incoming calls in roaming, a resident of the Russian Federation, while in Belarus, had to pay 2 Russian rubles or seven Belarusian kopecks for a telephone conversation. An incoming roaming call for a Belarusian cost 11 kopecks or more than three Russian rubles. These are the tariffs of one of the major mobile operators.

Russia and Belarus canceled fees for incoming calls

According to the First Deputy Minister of Communications and Informatization of Belarus Pavel Tkach, special roaming channels were allocated for preferential charging. Certain measures were taken to combat fraud on communication channels, and those channels were tested. First, the transition to preferential tariffs took place, which were reduced by about 7-10 times relative to those that were before, Tkach noted.

The cancellation of roaming was the result of one of the Union programs of Belarus and Russia, which are being implemented on behalf of the heads of state. The goal is to create a unified approach in the field of communication.

"Not as the head of the ministry, of course, it is nice that we do not say this process that it is long, but we, together with our Russian colleagues, made it much faster and economically less expensive than our European colleagues," added the Minister of Communications and Informatization of Belarus Konstantin Shulgan.

By the beginning of April 2022, there are more than 90 thousand cellular subscribers in Belarus. It is expected that this number will increase against the background of the "covid" (coronavirusCOVID-19) restrictions lifted when crossing the border.

Cooperation between Russia and Belarus over the years has been built on the principles of mutual respect, support and consideration of each other's interests. The abolition of fees for incoming calls on the territory of the Union State for subscribers roaming in contributes to strengthening the partnership and integration of the two, countries which the heads of state agreed on - and. Vladimir Putin Alexander Lukashenko ministries cellular communications A lot of preparatory work was done by specialized and operators. Thanks to this, the Russians in Belarus were able to receive calls from loved ones for free. Similar conditions apply for Belarusian subscribers in Russia. And it is very symbolic that this decision entered into force on the eve of the Day of Unity of our peoples, which is annually celebrated on April 2, said Dmitry Chernyshenko

Cancellation of fees for incoming calls is one of the results of negotiations between relevant ministries and telecom operators of the Union State. At the end of March 2022, there are more than 90 thousand Russian subscribers in Belarus, who have become available for free incoming calls. The Ministry of Digital Development thanks the operators for the fact that at any time the main priority for them is the comfort of subscribers and the availability of communication. At the end of March 2022, we continue to work together with the Republic to cancel all roaming surcharges in the future. Then the cost of incoming and outgoing calls when moving between countries for citizens will be equal to the cost of communication within their country, specified Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Industry of Russia Dmitry Kim

The joint work made it possible back in November 2020 to reduce the rate interconnect (the system of inter-operator mutual settlements for voice traffic transit services) between Russia and Belarus for roaming calls from 0.30 to 0.015. $ Due to a significant decrease in roaming tariffs, the number of subscribers of Russian telecom operators using cellular services in Belarus increased by 15%, the number of incoming calls increased by 1.5 times, outgoing - by 2 times. The volume SMS of messages also increased by 2 times, Internet traffic and - by 1.6 times.

The cancellation of fees for incoming calls in roaming between Russia and Belarus allowed people to communicate more with loved ones, which is especially important for residents of our countries today. We always strive to provide our customers with the best conditions of service, and are glad that we managed to find mutually beneficial opportunities for this, said in Beeline

In the context of dynamically developing cooperation between telecom operators of the Russian Federation and Belarus, MTS has found an opportunity to reset incoming calls when its subscribers are in Belarus. This is another step in deepening integration processes in the telecommunications industries of the two countries, added to MTS

From November 1, 2021, Tele2 reduced prices for voice communication and the Internet during the stay of customers in Belarus. Thus, the cost of a megabyte has fallen in price for our subscribers by more than 7 times. Zeroing the cost of incoming made the use of the service in Belarus even more comfortable and made it possible to freely maintain communication with business contacts and relatives, noted in Tele2

In October 2020, we reduced the cost of calls with per-minute charging in roaming with Belarus by 18 times. Zeroing incoming calls was another step that will give our subscribers even more opportunities to communicate with relatives and friends, added to MegaFon

2021

The connection between Belarus and Russia will become cheaper on an ongoing basis

Since September 1, 2021, new tariffs will begin to be applied to roaming subscribers of Belarus and Russia. Information about this appeared on August 11, 2021. The parties agreed about the end of trial operation of communication channels in the conditions of decrease in rates of interconnect on roaming traffic on space of the Union State. For the entering calls and proceeding the cost of minute got cheaper by all Russian numbers more than four times, the cost of one megabyte of Internet traffic - more than seven times. Traffic of subscribers with constant tariffing since November 1, 2020 when the experiment began, increased several times.

"The achievement of comfortable subscriber roaming tariffs became possible due to a decrease in international interconnect rates for roaming traffic and inter-operator roaming rates. Thus, the reduction in tariffs for telecom operators is not unprofitable. Moreover, the decrease in subscriber tariffs led to an increase in traffic, which is undoubtedly beneficial to Russian telecom operators, "the press service of the Ministry of Digital Development assured.

Vadim Plessky, an independent expert on IT and telecom markets, noted that when rates for international interconnect (with Belarus) and inter-operator rates (between Russian and Belarusian operators) are reduced, Russian operators can tariff communication services to their subscribers located in the Republic of Belarus at significantly lower prices. At the same time, operators will not work at a loss, they will have a profit from such communication services, the expert explained.^[3]

Russians extended preferential roaming with Belarus for a year

Russian and Belarusian mobile operators have agreed to extend the validity of the test regime for preferential charging of roaming services when their subscribers travel between the two countries. This was reported in January 2021 by the Sputnik agency. The^[4].

The test mode of preferential roaming charging between the two countries was introduced on November 1, 2020. Then the operators agreed to reduce the interconnect (interconnection) rate by 20 times: from $0.3 to $0.015 per minute. This led to a multiple reduction in the cost of calls roaming to subscribers. The test period was supposed to be valid until the end of 2020, after which it was planned to be extended on an ongoing basis.

The press service of Megafon confirmed to CNews that the test period for studying the mechanisms of interaction when passing roaming traffic between Russia and Belarus has indeed been extended until the end of 2021. The press service of VimpelCom (Beeline trademark) also noted that the operator is extending the validity of reduced tariffs for its customers when it is in the Republic of Belarus this year.

"The results of the test regime were generally recognized as successful, so the parties decided to extend the reduced tariffs for communication services until the end of this year," said the press service of the mobile operator Tele2. "As part of the project, Tele2 has lowered the cost of a minute for incoming calls to the numbers of Belarus and outgoing to all Russian ones by more than four times, the cost of one megabyte of Internet traffic - by more than seven times."

Now, for Tele2 subscribers, when traveling to Belarus, one minute of an incoming call, as well as one minute of an outgoing call in Belarus and Russia, costs 3.5 rubles. The same cost 1 MB of data. Sending one SMS to Russia costs 1.95 rubles. For comparison: in neighboring Ukraine, for Tele2 subscribers, the cost of one minute of an incoming call and an outgoing call in Ukraine and Russia costs 20 rubles. One megabyte of data costs 25 rubles, sending one SMS - 6 rubles.

MTS did not respond to CNews request at the time of publication of this material. Representatives of Belarusian mobile operators - MTS (co-owner of Russian MTS), A1 (former Velcom) and Best (Life trademark) - also did not respond to requests from CNews by the time of publication.

2020

Vyacheslav Volodin: Roaming between Russia and Belarus will disappear in 2021

The chairman of a parliamentary meeting of the Union of Belarus and Russia, the chairman Gos­du­my of the Russian Federation Vya­ches­lav Volodin said in December, 2020 that roaming between Russia and Belarus will disappear in 2021. He noted that the Belarusian and Russian telecom operators already began to work on the new system of tariffing in the test mode. Operators note that they are ready for continuous interaction on condition of similar^[5] on the way to bezroumingovy space.

"I want to say about the tasks facing us within the framework of the parliamentary dimension. First of all, this is the rapprochement of legislation to ensure equal rights of citizens of our countries, increasing the effectiveness of the implementation of joint projects. Our task is through the harmonization of legislation to reach practical solutions to issues that would improve the lives of citizens of our countries, "said Vyacheslav Volodin, opening the 59th session of the parliamentary assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia.

According to Vyacheslav Volodin, roaming between Russia and Belarus will disappear in 2021. "The work on the abolition of roaming on the territory of the Union State is close to completion. From November 1, Belarusian and Russian telecom operators began to work in test mode according to a new billing system that reduces the cost of calls. We hope that next year our citizens will pay less for telephone conversations on the territory of the Union State, "said Vyacheslav Volodin.

Recall that the issue of the formation and functioning of a single scientific and technical space of the Union State and the prospect of canceling roaming on its territory was discussed in December 2018 at the 55th session of the parliamentary assembly of Belarus and Russia within the framework of the "government hour," which was attended by representatives of relevant departments of the two countries.

2019

Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation: roaming with Belarus will be canceled no later than September 2020

On December 22, 2019, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation announced the timing of the cancellation of roaming with Belarus. According to the press secretary of the department, Yevgeny Novikov, free incoming calls between countries within the framework of the Union State should be introduced no later than September 2020.

According to the final version of the "road map" on the so-called abolition of roaming between Russia and Belarus in March 2020, proposals for its legislative consolidation should be ready, "he said (quoted by TASS Information Agency of Russia)

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation called the timing of the cancellation of roaming with Belarus

According to Novikov, Belarus has signed a "roadmap" for the abolition of roaming with Russia. By September 2020, all technical and organizational measures to ensure correct routing and billing of calls should be completed, the representative of the Ministry of Communications added.

Russia and Belarus agreed to cancel roaming between countries in August 2018. Then one of the ways to resolve the issue was called tariff harmonization.

In August 2019, the deputy head of FASAnatoliy Golomolzin argued that roaming between Russia and Belarus would be canceled before the beginning of 2020.

Previously, the mutual cancellation of roaming was planned from June 1, 2020. At a meeting Sochi on December 7, 2019, the presidents Russia Belarus Vladimir Putin and failed Alexander Lukashenko to approve the plan of all the developed "road maps."

Oleg Ivanov, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia, noted that to ensure an even load on Russian and Belarusian operators due to a serious reduction in rates in mutual settlements and inter-operator rates in roaming, changes in legislation may be required to cancel it.

The Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin said in December 2019 that roaming with Belarus would be canceled only within the framework of a package agreement.^[6]

FAS: Work is underway to abolish roaming in the EAEU, CIS and BRICS

On October 3, 2019, information appeared that a draft agreement was developed on the creation of a single tariff space for services for completing international challenges between the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union. Work is nearing completion on the abolition of roaming when traveling between Russia and Belarus, there is a readiness to intensify negotiations in these areas on a bilateral basis with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Read more here.

The number of users of international roaming for voice communication has decreased to 66%

On June 19, 2019, TelecomDaily shared with TAdviser the results of a study on the demand for international roaming services by subscribers who are their target audience. It was held in May 2019 in the arrival zones of international airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Passengers returning from overseas trips were asked questions about their mobile phone usage on the completed trip.

The share of those who use roaming for voice communication (made or received at least one call) decreased to 66% of respondents, compared to 72.7% a year earlier. Thus, this indicator rolls back to the indicators of 2016, when only 57.8% of subscribers used the voice. According to TelecomDaily experts, the reasons are obvious: for most players, voice options have recently risen in price and/or become available only together with Internet packages, which makes the daily subscription fee for such options quite high. At the same time, messengers are increasingly used for calls.

The increase in the use of voice roaming was provided only by Tele2 (68.4% versus 65.6% a year earlier). This is due to the fact that the company has launched several new regions over the past 2 years, as a result of which it has connected new subscribers. The rest of the companies showed the opposite direction. Beeline subscribers: their share for the year changed literally within the statistical error (77.0% versus 77.9%, respectively); MegaFon's number of voice users decreased from 80.1% to 76.5%. The share of "refuseniks" at MTS has grown: 59.1% of subscribers use the voice against 66.1% a year earlier.

A minority of subscribers still use mobile Internet access in international roaming at least once, but the penetration of data roaming over the past year has increased significantly: from 27.3% to 36.6% of those leaving. For comparison, in 2016 there were 15.9%, in 2014 only 5.2%, and in 2012 2-3%, depending on the country. As before, the leaders in service penetration are Beeline, whose share increased to 39.9% against 38.7% a year earlier, and MegaFon, which increased data roaming penetration from 28 to 39.9%. MTS penetration increased from 22.9 to 34.3%. At the same time, Tele2 demonstrates the best growth: the penetration of data-roaming increased from 12.6% to 32.6%, noted in TelecomDaily.

As last year, over 97% of subscribers used at least some kind of Internet abroad: that is, those 63.6% of those who left who never used data-roaming bought local or tourist SIM cards, or used Wi-Fi in cafes, hotels and other public places, including for voice calls, primarily outgoing.

The awareness of subscribers about the existence of tariff options has grown; it is 90.8% against 78.7% a year earlier: just as many subscribers know how much roaming costs (they studied prices in advance or read SMS from the operator upon arrival). Beeline's awareness of options is 93.4% versus 82.2% a year earlier, MTS 90.5% versus 81.5% a year earlier, MegaFon 89.9% versus 80.3%, Tele2 88.4 versus 53.5%.

According to analysts, most of the subscribers who used the international roaming service were satisfied with their experience: this figure grew in the industry as a whole from 70.6 to 73.1%: just so many people from those who used roaming reported that they were satisfied with the cost and quality of services. Beeline showed the best satisfaction index (83% versus 79.6% a year earlier). The service "Unlimited Internet in roaming" and 1 GB for 99 rubles are actively used. The number of satisfied MegaFon subscribers increased from 72.2% to 82.9% due to the expansion of the list of countries and the automatic connection of the Roaming, Goodbai option and the absence of the need to disconnect it upon return. And if roaming services are not needed, then there is a possibility of banning GPRS roaming. MTS showed good dynamics: growth from 62.4% to 72.4%. Several advanced subscribers even noted the Wi-Fi Calling service as an advantage, which saves on roaming when there is a Wi-Fi connection. Tele2's number of satisfied subscribers increased from 66.3 to 72.2%. They note the convenience of Internet options (a lot of traffic without a speed limit) and the affordable cost of voice calls that do not require buying packages, which is convenient for low-tax subscribers.

About the study

The total sample size was 1,753 respondents, of which 632 subscribers, MTS 467 subscribers, MegaFon 439 subscribers and Beeline 215 subscribers. Tele2 Some subscribers use two or more SIM cards, therefore, when analyzing the data, it was taken into account which of the SIM-cards subscribers used abroad; the number of users of several SIM cards at once for different services turned out to be statistically insignificant. The distribution of subscribers to operators approximately corresponds to their average market shares in the two regions.

Medvedev canceled roaming in Russia

On May 27, 2019,  Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree securing the abolition of intranet roaming in Russia. In accordance with the adopted law, domestic roaming will cease to operate on June 1.

Medvedev stressed that this is the final solution to the issue at the level of the government's by-law. According to the head of government, mobile operators have already actually switched to new work standards, which made travel around the country more comfortable.

On June 1, 2019, the ban on intranet roaming comes into force

The resolution approves uniform tariffs for cellular communications, regardless of the region in which the subscriber is located. After the document comes into force, operators will not be able to charge additional fees for services outside of one region. All incoming calls throughout Russia, including Crimea, will be free. 

Intranet roaming is the provision of communication services to subscribers outside his home region. Previously, this service could be obtained for an additional fee. The Big Four operators (MTS, MegaFon, Tele2, VimpelCom) had different roaming tariffs - on average from 5 to 11 rubles per minute without additional options and discounts. But many subscribers used tariff packages with free entries in guest regions.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service insisted on the abolition of the additional fee. The regulator initiated the initiation of cases against MTS, MegaFon, and then VimpelCom for non-compliance with the requirements of the law. After that, the three largest Russian operators one after another announced the abolition of roaming in Russia. 

All operators had to notify subscribers about the cancellation of the fee for incoming for ten days, that is, until May 21, 2019. According  to RBC, two operators did not do this: the Chechen Vainakh Telecom and the Crimean Sevmobile. In turn, the Tatar "Your Mobile Technologies" (TMT, a subsidiary of "Tattelecom") notified customers of the changes in a timely manner, representatives of "Tattelecom" clarified to TAdviser^[7]

2018

The bill on the abolition of roaming in Russia was adopted in the second reading

On December 18, 2018, it became known that the State Duma adopted in the second reading a bill on the abolition of intranet and national roaming. Earlier, cellular operators voluntarily canceled intranet roaming, but the roaming component remains when traveling to the Crimea^[8] completely ^[9].

In particular, an amendment proposed by the head of the State Duma Committee on Communications and Information Policy Leonid Levin was approved. Changes are made to Article 46 of the Law "On Communications," which establishes the obligations of operators.

Cellular operators will have an additional obligation: the conditions of service in the territory of the Russian Federation should be the same regardless of whether the subscriber is in the territory of the region specified in the decision to allocate a numbering resource to this operator and includes the subscriber's number, or outside it.

In addition, one part will be added to Article 54. This article has a clause setting exceptions for charging incoming calls. One such exception is the acceptance of calls by a subscriber outside their home region. Now it is assumed that the fee for incoming calls can be charged only if the subscriber is in international roaming.

The date of entry into force of the law is also specified: from June 2019.

VimpelCom"," and MTS "" Megaphone have long built networks throughout the territory Russia except and. Crimea Sevastopol The fourth largest cellular operator Tele2 in a number of regions does not have its own networks. But tariffs for national roaming are equated to preferential tariffs for intranet roaming in all regions, except again Crimea and Sevastopol.

If finally approved, the bill will in practice lead to the abolition of national roaming. Mobile operators of the "Big Four" have this kind of roaming, as of December 19, only on the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol.

At the same time, a number of regional mobile operators continue to operate in Russia, for whose subscribers national roaming is found almost throughout Russia. They had previously warned the government of negative consequences for them from the ban on national roaming.

The bill on the abolition of roaming within Russia was adopted in the first reading

The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill on the abolition of national and intranet roaming. The document in the form of amendments to the Law "On Communications" last year was introduced by the head of^[10] Just Russia faction Sergei Mironov and his colleagues in the faction^[11].

The bill provides for a change in Article 54 of the Law "On Communications," regulating the procedure for paying for communication services. The deputies propose to add a clause stating that payment for telephone connections between subscribers within the territory of Russia should be carried out at a single tariff of a telecom operator, regardless of the location within Russia of both the calling and receiving subscribers.

Accordingly, when traveling in Russia, subscribers will not be charged a roaming premium for both outgoing and incoming calls. The ability to charge incoming fees will remain only in international roaming.

2017

Cancellation of roaming will reduce prices for traveling subscribers by 2-3 times

The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, together with the Federal Antimonopoly Service, held a meeting with the largest mobile operators in December 2017 on the abolition of roaming in Russia. The meeting participants summed up the work in 2017, noting that all the largest operators have already begun to change tariff plans in accordance with the roaming cancellation plan, and that this concept will be abandoned in the first half of 2018.

The Antimonopoly Service, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia and operators managed to find the correct form of industry dialogue when work is underway as part of the creation of a single general action plan and its implementation, - said the head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia Nikolai Nikiforov. - The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia also plans to adopt clarifying amendments to a number of regulatory legal acts: it is planned to improve the ministry's order on traffic transmission, consider the issue of the price level for inter-operator connections, develop legislation related to the access of telecom operators to apartment buildings, and clarify a number of other orders, resolutions and laws. To ensure the successful development of the telecommunications industry and maintain the highest level of competition, we try to further liberalize industry regulation and see that operators are meeting us halfway so that concepts such as intranet roaming and national roaming are finally a thing of the past.

The minister also clarified that there is no need to adopt separate laws that would generally prohibit some separate concepts such as roaming or other types of services.

Operators are in a competitive environment and with such a careful attitude of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, this will happen naturally during the first or second quarter, Nikiforov added.

Following the meeting, regulators and telecom operators managed to agree that in January 2018 there will be a significant amount of changes in tariff plans, which will make it possible to feel the changes to the vast majority of subscribers in roaming. In particular, depending on the tariff plan and the conditions of service of the subscriber, as well as the remoteness of his trip, the price of communication may decrease by two to three times or more.

Separately, the study of the issue of tariffs for mobile communications in roaming for subscribers who visit the Crimean Federal District was noted. According to the head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of Russia, as of the end of December 2017, certain positive changes are already being recorded, while more are expected at the beginning of 2018.

FAS agreed with operators to cancel roaming without increasing communication tariffs

As it became known on September 25, 2017, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia, according to Igor Artemyev's statement, managed to reach an agreement with mobile operators to cancel intranet roaming by the end of 2017 without a subsequent increase in communication prices. In exchange, the FAS is ready to help companies in eliminating obstacles to business growth.^[12]

Cancellation of intranet roaming in Russia will not lead to an increase in communication tariffs. Photo: www.macdigger.ru

During the meeting of representatives of the FAS with the Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov, it was decided that all the main measures to abolish intranet roaming will be taken in 2017, the rest of the measures are planned to be implemented during the first half of 2018. At the same time, the authorities do not intend to present operators with requirements for the abolition of roaming in an ultimatum form, but expect to conduct a dialogue.

According to Nikiforov, the operators, for their part, do not mind fulfilling the instructions of the FAS in exchange for other benefits - for example, ensuring non-discriminatory access to apartment buildings. As you know, the management of such a house usually gives access to it to only one company.

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, in turn, will agree to the abolition of roaming only subject to proven benefits for subscribers, in particular, the lack of tariff growth, the head of the ministry said.

After the abolition of intranet roaming, the FAS plans to gradually liquidate the national one, but the exact timing has not yet been announced. Also, within two to three years, roaming between the countries of the Customs Union may be canceled, that is, in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Artemyev told the Russia 24 TV channel.

Over the next month, the process participants intend to develop mechanisms that will allow implementing the planned plan to cancel intranet roaming within the specified time frame.

FAS intends to resolve the issue of canceling roaming in Russia by the end of 2017

As it became known in September 2017, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) intends to resolve the issue of canceling intranet and national roaming by the end of 2017 .^[13]

As the head of the FAS Igor Artemyev told Interfax in a conversation about intranet roaming, until December 2017, the department will continue to work with operators, and in December it will require them to remove this norm.

As for the abolition of national roaming, according to Artemyev, the issue will be resolved by the end of the year, presumably by 90%, otherwise the department will be forced to apply tough sanctions against operators - in particular, in the form of a fine of 1% to 15% of the company's annual turnover.

According to the head of the FAS, Russia should not have intranet and national roaming. Finally, it will be canceled in 2018, says Artemyev.

According to telecom operators, in order to fulfill the requirements of the FAS, it is necessary to adjust the legislation in the field of communications, the rules for building networks and passing traffic. For their part, analysts predict an increase in tariffs for long-distance and international calls and, possibly, other communication services by operators in response to the execution of the order of the antimonopoly service.

According to the requirements of the FAS, by August 13, operators had to cancel intranet roaming. However, this was not followed. MegaFon, calling the order unenforceable within the specified time frame, challenged it in court. Other operators asked the FAS to postpone the cancellation of intranet roaming. Later, MegaFon also joined their request, withdrawing the lawsuit against the department. As a result, the FAS extended the deadline for the execution of the order until December 15, 2017.

Roaming in the EAEU countries may be canceled in 2018-2019

Anatoly Golomolzin, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation, expressed in August 2017 the opinion that the abolition of roaming in the EAEU countries could occur in 2018-2019. He believes that it all depends on how Russia solves the problem domestically.

FAS opened a case against the operators of the "Big Four" due to roaming prices

On July 31, it became known about the intention of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to initiate a case against the four largest Russian mobile operators - VimpelCom (Beeline trademark), MTS, Megafon and T2 Mobile (Tele2). This was stated by the deputy head of the FAS Anatoly Golomolzin. The reason was the operators' failure to comply with the FAS requirement to cancel the surcharge for intranet roaming in Russia.^[14]

The FAS will initiate cases on intranet roaming in relation to the Big Four if the companies do not comply with the order by August 13. Photo: mstrok.ru

According to Golomolzin, the operators should have already put forward proposals regarding the abolition of domestic roaming, but they did not. The agency considers the high prices for roaming in the country established by them as a violation of antitrust laws.

So far, the FAS has only decided to initiate a case. The next step will be to prepare a determination on the initiation of a case, which will then be sent to operators. The definition will indicate the timing of the consideration of the case.

In particular, the FAS will initiate cases on intranet roaming if the companies do not comply with the order by August 13. "There is still time, if there is no reaction [of operators], then further - according to the plan," the FAS deputy head clarified[15]

He also added that the FAS will consider the problem solved only when the prices for communication services in the "home" region of the subscriber will not differ from the prices for the same services in other regions of the country. At the same time, Crimea should be considered in the same way as any other region of the Russian Federation.

Megafon: it is impossible to cancel Russian roaming in two weeks

It is impossible to cancel domestic roaming in two weeks, said Anna Andreevna, operating director of Megafon.

She noted that "the FAS took such a tough stance and issued an ultimatum warning to operators." Serebryannikova added that the company is ready to meet with the department in court regarding claims due to failure to comply with the requirements to cancel roaming.

Serebryannikova estimated the operator's losses due to the cancellation of roaming at several billion rubles, which there is nothing to reimburse. She added that other operators are in the same situation, but they are not ready to file a joint lawsuit.

"We are perplexed why the FAS took such a tough stance and issued an ultimatum warning to operators. We believe that the implementation of this warning is impossible on time. If the FAS has questions about our company, we are ready to discuss them in court, "Megafon's operating director commented on the situation^[16]Russian Federation^[17]

FAS demanded from the "big four" to cancel roaming fees within Russia

The Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a warning to the "big four" mobile operators, namely VimpelCom, MTS, Megafon and T2 Mobile. According to the department, operators have established unjustified tariffs for cellular services in the home region and when traveling around the country. According to the warning, the Big Four need to make adjustments to these tariff plans, excluding unreasonable price differences, and notify subscribers about this. Operators are given a period of two weeks for this.^[18]

In the course of analyzing the proposals of the Big Four, the FAS found that subscribers are offered conditions under which a more expensive tariff plan reduces the difference in prices for cellular services at home and during trips.

For example, if a consumer acquires the most expensive package, then he does not pay extra when leaving the home region. If the subscriber is the owner of the tariff plan for the average price, then the volume of minutes, SMS and the Internet is valid only in the home region, and in national roaming he has to pay according to the base tariffs.

The actions of the operators in the FAS were considered neither economically nor technologically unreasonable.

The Ministry of Communications of Russia supported the initiative to cancel roaming between Russia and Belarus

Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko proposed to cancel roaming when calling between Russia and the Republic of Belarus. Another proposal to reach zero tariff for roaming payments was made at a meeting of the State Council of the Union State. The head of the Ministry of Communications of Russia Nikolai Nikiforov spoke in principle support of the initiative.^[19]

According to the Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, the decision to cancel payment for roaming connections should not be made at the level of the state or departmental councils. "We support the idea, but the final solution to the issue depends on the operators themselves. An agreement is required between each of the operators with his partner on the other side. Currently, work is already underway with telecom operators, we are requesting their position, "Nikiforov said. He also noted that the department also supports the wider spread of the initiative - the abolition of roaming throughout the EAEU

Commercial operators, for their part, are in no hurry to speak out "for" the zero cost of roaming. For example, VimpelCom believes that this requires first harmonizing telecommunications legislation in the EAEU countries. And only after that we can talk about universal approaches to the formation of common tariffs.

In addition, as you know, with the abolition of roaming fees, mobile operators in Russia and Belarus may lose a significant part of their profits. Thus, according to the estimates of the Tele2 operator, Belarus is one of the "three most popular roaming directions among the company's subscribers."

State Duma deputies proposed to cancel roaming within Russia

A group of deputies from "Fair Russia" submitted in June 2017 to the State Duma amendments to the law "On Communications" aimed at canceling "internal roaming," according to data from the State Duma information system. "Internal roaming was introduced in the country under the pretext of compensatory measures to cellular companies, which were initially forced to make connections through a single all-Russian telecom operator and incurred additional costs in this regard. But today such a mechanism is used extremely rarely, so the fee for internal roaming has become just an anachronism. Not to mention its redundancy, "- said the representative of the press service of" Fair Russia "the words of the party leader Sergei Mironov. The initiators of the bill emphasize that the rejection of domestic roaming is a global trend. Previously, it was canceled in the United States, and from June 15, 2017 - for subscribers of European Union countries^[20].

As one of the authors of the bill, deputy Igor Ananskikh, told RBC, the proposed amendments will affect "all the largest mobile operators in Russia." "Across the country, the cost of communication should be the same. And where the citizen lives, and outside his subject, "the deputy said. Another author of the amendments, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Legislation and State Building Mikhail Emelyanov, also told RBC that changes in the law will affect all operators. "We want to achieve the abolition of interregional roaming. This proposal is based on numerous appeals from dissatisfied citizens. The financial position of companies that carry out mobile communications in Russia is quite stable. If you look at tariffs, they are very high, more expensive than in Europe. In the same Europe, the European Union, roaming between countries has been canceled, "he said. According to Oleg Nilov, deputy head of Fair Russia (also one of the authors of the document), communication tariffs should be regulated by the government in accordance with the average incomes of citizens. "We believe that this should be the average modest tariff throughout Russia, regardless of the region. Each network simply will not have differences in the cost of a minute throughout Russia, "he said. Nilov also noted that anyone coming to a region where there is no his telecom operator will be able to switch to another, paying exactly what it would cost in his hometown per minute. "The communication network throughout the country will serve customers without any roaming," he added.

Roaming canceled in the European Union

In the European Union, in the summer of 2017, an additional payment for roaming was canceled for subscribers who use the services of local mobile operators. Now, in any EU country, its citizens will pay the same for mobile communications as at home. In an official statement, the European Commission calls the day of cancellation of roaming "historical"^[21].

For foreigners, including Russians, nothing will change - if they use the services of their national operators in Europe, roaming will be paid for them. Moreover, in an effort to compensate for the loss of part of the income in Europe, local operators can raise roaming rates for visitors. This is feared by the Russian operators Megafon and Tele2, interviewed by the TASS news agency. Russian operators themselves do not plan to raise roaming prices this summer.

The real cost of roaming

In addition to canceling the surcharge for roaming by the subscriber, the EU Council at the end of April regulated the calculations between the operators of the EU countries. Since June 15, 2017, operators from different EU countries, when servicing someone else's subscriber on their territory, can charge each other no more than €0.032 per minute of conversation and €0.01 per SMS. The traffic surcharge should be gradually reduced from €7.7 per 1 GB in 2017 to €2.5 in 2022.

These calculations do not concern subscribers, roaming will be free for them. However, European operators forced to pay each other can raise prices for other services. Some operators began to do this in the spring of 2017.

FAS insists on the abolition of roaming in Russia

On February 7, 2017, it became known about the agreement between the FAS and cellular operators of the Russian Federation regarding the cancellation of margins on roaming between networks of different operators within Russia in 2017.

According to a press statement, in the next two months, markups will disappear in Crimea, by the end of 2017 - throughout the country. The companies promised to charge their subscribers the same fee for using the same network in all regions of Russia.

Events with the participation of the FAS, (2015)

In addition to the national, there is also intra-network and international roaming. According to the FAS, it agreed with Russian operators that this term will no longer be used, and that each company will try to establish uniform tariffs for its services, regardless of which region of Russia its subscriber is located in. This is planned to be done in the first half of 2017. Cheaper switching between different networks should also help solve this problem of^[22]

{{quote 'adtor
= Anatoly Golomolzin, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service' Using the network of someone else's operator when traveling to another region of Russia should become cheaper by the end of 2017. As for international roaming, the main problem here is relations between Russian and foreign operators. As of February 2017, the FAS formulated the general principle of the formation of tariffs for these services: "roaming at home." FAS maintains a dialogue with Russian operators on how to reduce tariffs in international roaming.}}

Roaming Cases

At the end of January 2017, it became known about the initiation of the FAS case on the fact of raising prices for international roaming against the Russian operator Megafon. The company announced the price change in December 2016. Regardless of other Russian operators, the company raised roaming prices in 38 countries, tariff growth - from 20% to 2200%.

The operator explained his decision by the fact that his roaming partners were the first to change tariffs for interconnect calls. As a result, Megafon was forced to divide European countries into four roaming zones and raise prices by an average of 5.8 times, depending on the specific zone.

In early December 2016, the MTS operator decided to increase tariffs for international roaming - on average by 13%. The promotion did not take place. The FAS explained this "by the timely interest of the department with the peculiarities of pricing."

2016: Roaming 20 years later: where Megafon subscribers go

In July 1996, an event took place - MegaFon opened outgoing roaming in ten countries of the world at once, among them were Germany, Spain and a number of Scandinavian countries. In 2016, the most popular destinations among subscribers of the North-West branch of MegaFon are Finland, Belarus, Estonia, Turkey, Spain, and the largest number of foreign guests registering in the MegaFon network come to the North-West from Finland, Italy, Estonia, Italy, Belarus, as well as China.

If we consider data on the entire network of MegaFon PJSC for the same period, subscribers from Italy, Estonia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and China use voice services most of all. And subscribers from China, Turkey, Finland, Korea and Italy transfer data.

Finland also occupies the top lines of the rating among MegaFon's corporate clients in the North-West: it is to this country, as well as to Belarus and Estonia, that they have recently sent most often. At the same time, mobile Internet continues to gain popularity in roaming, in the first half of 2016, B2B clients pumped almost one and a half times more gigabytes than in the same period last year.

"Over 20 years, the idea of ​ ​ Russians about mobile communications has completely changed, and this was largely due to MegaFon. Now our subscribers call, send SMS and use the Internet in 224 countries of the world, and high-speed mobile Internet LTE is already available in 73 countries today. We are really close, constantly moving forward and expanding opportunities for our customers in all corners of the world, "says Vadim Merkulov, director of business development at the mass market of the North-West branch of MegaFon.

Notes