Who canceled roaming. Will roaming be canceled in Russia? How did the FAS achieve the abolition of roaming

As you know, domestic roaming operates on the territory of Russia. When leaving for a neighboring region, the subscriber has to pay for his calls at a more expensive rate. Is there a solution to this problem? The abolition of roaming in Russia has long been discussed everywhere, but will it happen in the near future?

In the near future, Russians should expect a new mobile tariff, in which the cost of calls will decrease to the level of home calls, regardless of the network coverage area. According to the new rules, no fees will be charged when receiving calls from other cities and regions. The fare rules throughout the country will remain unchanged.

What do the experts say?

Finam Management, represented by analyst Maxim Klyagin, reports that the introduction of this innovation should take place in the near future, since the abolition of national roaming in Russia has been practically resolved and does not have any particular difficulties.

It is worth noting some points that will significantly slow down the process of project implementation. The territory of the Russian Federation has a significant extent and uneven geographical relief, and this greatly complicates the work on the organization of infrastructure, and also increases the cost of its maintenance. Of course, it is worth noting the complexity of formalizing the initiative through legislative norms. The main part of the financial costs will be borne by the consumer. According to experts, if the legislation is changed, it would be possible to significantly reduce the cost of tariffs for the population for paying for intranet roaming.

Previous attempts

In 2010, there was a parliamentary initiative to legally abolish national roaming. But, unfortunately, the State Duma considered it premature to cancel the existing norms, arguing that operators incur additional costs when servicing calls at the interregional level. For this reason, the law on the abolition of roaming in Russia has not been issued.

What is roaming and its alternative?

National roaming is the actual use of the network of another mobile operator for the needs of the first. Due to the fact that its use is extremely unprofitable for consumers, mobile communications are being actively replaced by IP-telephony services.

Intra-network roaming - in which one operator distributes telephone services through its own network between different regions of the country.

Volp (voiceover IP) is an IP protocol technology for telephony and communications. The technology can be used for sound transmission, downloading video, sound files and alert programs. It can also be used when broadcasting live webinars, movies, TV shows. Since the abolition of roaming in Russia has not yet been implemented, the use of these alternatives is becoming more popular every month.

How does this happen?

According to experts, the increased popularity of this topic indicates a direct aggravation of competition in the mobile communications market. First of all, VoIP technology will significantly reduce the cost of calls. Recently, all mobile operators are going to reduce the cost of calls in roaming, forming special tariff packages.

The tariff is charged by the minute. If the connection is made up to three seconds inclusive, the payment is not charged. When connecting subscribers from different regions, cellular operators use zonal and long-distance networks. In the situation that has developed at this stage, when the subscriber connects to national roaming, the system activates the "intra-network roaming communication" service.

When the subscriber travels to another region, making intra-regional calls there, he will pay through his home network.

About national roaming

Since the networks of operators cannot physically cover the entire territory of the country, they need to enter into a roaming agreement with operators from other regions of Russia and use their coverage to make a connection. By definition, a guest network is one in which a subscriber registers, in which he himself becomes a roamer.

If intra-network roaming is canceled in Russia, this will inevitably lead to irreversible consequences in the form of loss of income of mobile operators, which will eventually affect the end consumer, since they will cover a significant share of the income loss. So say the interviewed analysts from RIA Novosti. Thus, we will have to expect a significant increase in the cost of calls.

Cancellation of roaming in Russia - a question of the near future?

The head of the antimonopoly Federal Service (FAS), Igor Artemyev, said earlier that domestic roaming should be abolished, especially in Crimea. The top of the department urged the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications to complete work in this direction as soon as possible.

However, the risk of tariff increases remains a serious problem. According to analysts, roaming provides 3-5% of revenues for mobile providers.

According to Vitaly Solonin, head of the wireless technology department, after the abolition of national roaming, with the existing regulation of long-distance traffic, the profitability of telecom operators will be about 3-5% of their individual income from mobile communications.

Is a serious increase in tariffs realistic?

According to him, if the legislation reform is not approved, there is a risk of an increase in tariffs for mobile communications. How should the abolition of roaming in Russia be regulated? In the context of growing revenues of operators, it is more reasonable to first reorganize the industry legislation in the field of traffic transmission, and only after that cancel roaming within the country. Otherwise, this will affect the tariffs for end users - which means that operators will have to recover their losses.

Konstantin Ankilov, a representative of TMT Consulting, also agreed with the position expressed above. According to him, income from roaming is about 5% of the revenue of mobile operators. This is a very tangible part of it, especially for such common providers as MTS and MegaFon. The abolition of roaming within Russia in such conditions, when the market is almost not expanding, will lead to a serious rise in the cost of communication. Operators will cover lost revenues by increasing tariffs, reaching approximately the same level of profitability.

Ankilov also expressed his attitude towards roaming tariffs in Crimea in the media, noting the fact that inter-operator tariffs have been increased for some companies.

Opposite opinion

At the same time, Denis Kuskov, CEO of an analytical news agency called TelecomDaily, believes that national roaming does not bring supernatural revenue, and its abolition should not affect the growth of tariffs. According to him, operators have federal licenses and are required to provide the same work throughout the state. The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications takes the wrong position - not to pay attention to what is happening and agree with the actions of the operators. Considering that the EU has managed to completely abolish roaming, this means that it is possible to do this in Russia, Kuskov believes.

Cancellation of roaming in Russia: MTS and other operators

Cellular operators report that they are now working on reducing roaming rates.

The head of the press service of the MegaFon provider, Yulia Dorokhin, recalled that at present, operators conduct traffic through long-distance networks, which has affected the basic rates of domestic roaming. In the future, these costs will be reduced through the introduction of new technologies, as well as traffic through the data network (for example, VoLTE), but it is not possible to use them due to the lack of a legal framework.

She also explained that even today Megafon subscribers who regularly travel around Russia have the opportunity to activate an option called "Be at home", the price of which is 15 rubles per day. This makes it possible to communicate on trips at the rates of the home region.

What kind of news appears from MTS-Russia? This operator also plans to cancel roaming. MTS canceled it in 2015 on tariffs of the Smart series: a subscriber, while traveling in another region, is served on a home tariff basis. This was officially announced by Dmitry Solodovnikov - the press secretary of MTS.

Beeline is pursuing a phased policy of reducing roaming rates for its customers. When using the "ALL" package tariffs, subscribers have access to unlimited calls from the "Beeline" provider almost throughout Russia. In this case, the user receives a set of available minutes, SMS and mobile Internet at a cost commensurate with the rates of the home region. Moreover, when traveling through the territory of many regions of Russia, communication is provided at the same prices as at home. This was officially announced by the press secretary of the provider company Anna Aibasheva.

Thus, active measures are already being taken to abolish national roaming. Whether this will be profitable and convenient for consumers - this can be seen in the near future.

The four largest operators in Russia and the Federal Antimonopoly Service have come to a common compromise on whether or not to cancel roaming in 2018. Soon Russian subscribers will no longer pay for this service. The reason for this decision was the decree signed by the president and the national plan No. 618 of December 21, 2017, approved in accordance with it, aimed at eliminating the unreasoned difference in tariffs for mobile services when subscribers leave the home network.

On December 19, 2018, the State Duma adopted in the final 3rd reading the law on roaming developed by A Just Russia, which established uniform conditions for subscribers of cellular networks of the Russian Federation, regardless of the region.

Back in 2018, the Federal Antimonopoly Service gave the Big Four operators a directive to prepare for the abolition of roaming in Russia. Three service providers, VimpelCom, MegaFon, MTS and Tele2, have deadlines for carrying out the necessary technical work.

According to the signed document, the new rules should come into force on 06/01/19.

The goal of canceling roaming in Russia in order to reduce unreasonably high prices was set by the antimonopoly service last year. But due to the scale of the work, it was not possible to implement it by the end of December 2018. Most likely, the problem will be solved only by the middle of 2019. There are no grounds for accruing additional charges for calls from one region to another when a subscriber leaves the home network. The coverage of the largest Russian operators covers almost the entire territory of the country (with the exception of Crimea). On the peninsula, communications are provided by their regional companies, whose activities are regulated by relevant agreements.

The FAS plans to monitor the process of refusing to pay for services for subscribers that involve the use of resources from different networks. In case of non-compliance with the instructions, the organization has the right to initiate cases on violation of clause 6, part 1, article 10 of the law “On Protection of Competition” that has come into force and initiate the seizure of income earned illegally.

In his speech, the head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation N. Nikiforov assumed that already in the 2nd half of 2018 there would be no global issues regarding roaming in Russia. But, in practice, the process may take at least another 6 months (until the beginning of summer 2019).

Actions of the "big four" operators

According to experts, the leading operators began to prepare in advance for the possible cancellation of roaming. Despite the requirements of the antimonopoly service for the even distribution of all additional payments for the service, they began to systematically raise tariffs. For comparison: prices for services increased by 1.5 times compared to 2016.

Regarding the implementation of the instructions to cancel roaming on the territory of Russia in 2018, the actions of the Big Four can be observed today:

  • Beeline (Vimpelcom) started the process of stabilizing tariffs in national roaming in December 2017.
  • Megafon plans to cancel intranet roaming in the coming weeks.
  • "MTS" officially announced the reduction of tariffs for subscribers during trips across Russia, including for the period of stay in the territory of the Crimea.
  • Tele2 at first took a wait-and-see attitude, but under the threat of punitive measures from the FAS, it moved to take active steps to abolish roaming.

So far, not all companies have fully complied with the intranet roaming cancellation directive. No matter how the operators resist, by May 2019 they will have to finally revise their tariffs and regulate the billing system.

According to I. Artemyev, head of the FAS RF, the agency is actively figuring out “who, why and how” and is ready to use its entire arsenal in the implementation of the national plan.

As for the territory of the Crimean peninsula, at the moment there is intra-network national roaming. At the same time, Russian telecom operators operate on the territory of the peninsula, but due to the fear of falling under international sanctions, subscriber services are provided without the participation of the Big Four.

There is no reason to fear that the refusal of roaming will provoke another wave of tariff increases in other sectors in 2018-2019. The balance of interests of subscribers and communication companies will be maintained due to additional traffic growth. According to I. Artemiev, this will be implemented by removing barriers for cellular companies and building a new model that provides for non-discriminatory access to residential buildings.

The new bill quite clearly outlined the time frame for all operators in Russia. Sergei Mironov focused on the fact that the government had been waiting for more than a year for active actions from companies providing cellular communication services in the territory of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. We offer you to look at the video, what promises he made not so long ago:

Now the law has been passed and, whatever the opinion of the Big Four companies themselves, they will have to comply with it from June 1, 2019.

In December 2017, the "big four" mobile operators, yielding to the insistence of the FAS, promised to equalize the cost of calls in the home region and beyond. On January 31, 2018, the period allotted to VimpelCom (the owner of the Beeline brand), Megafon and MTS to adjust their pricing policy expired, and already in March, the FAS filed antitrust cases against them, accusing them of high prices for roaming in Russia.

Was roaming within the country canceled or not in 2018? What did the struggle of the FAS lead to, which mobile operators complied with the requirements of the department, and which ones does it still have complaints about?

Types of roaming in Russia

Roaming - a mode of using cellular communications outside the coverage area of ​​​​the network of your operator. When there are no towers of the company serving the subscriber in the territory of the subscriber's stay, or the coverage of the partner company is wider, the capacities of another provider are used to provide mobile communications. In this case, the number is saved. This concept is applicable to international and national roaming.

In Russia, in addition to the national one, there are two more types of roaming:

  • intranet - registration with your own operator outside the home region: the subscriber is charged an additional fee for expanding network coverage;
  • in Crimea, the existence of this type of roaming is due to geopolitical conditions: Western sanctions imposed after the annexation of the peninsula to the Russian Federation in 2014 closed the Big Four (Beeline, Megafon, MTS and Tele2) direct access to the market. Companies provide services through intermediaries, which affects the final prices for consumers.


How did the FAS achieve the abolition of roaming?

The intention to achieve the elimination of roaming in the country, up to the exclusion of this concept from legislative acts, was announced by the Federal Antimonopoly Service in November 2016, and in the summer of the following year it applied coercive measures:

  • On July 14 issued warnings to the Big Four to eliminate intra-network roaming;
  • On August 3, filed cases against each operator for high prices already in national roaming.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service threatened to fine violators - it is within the authority of the department to issue an order to withdraw unreasonably received income in favor of the federal budget.

A weighty argument that the FAS has been presenting to operators since December 2017 is Presidential Decree No. 618 “On the Main Directions of State Policy for the Development of Competition” of December 21, 2017. The national plan for the development of competition in the Russian Federation until 2020, approved by him, provides for the elimination of the unreasonable difference in the cost of mobile communications for domestic trips of Russians.

Timing

When will all federal operators cancel roaming in Russia, from what date will uniform tariffs for mobile communications be established? After repeated postponement of the deadlines, the FAS determined the final ones:

  • January 31, 2018 - for Beeline, Megafon and MTS;
  • May 31, 2018 - for Tele2.

The agency required a regular report on the measures taken by the operators.

In December 2017, after a joint meeting of the regulator, the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications and mobile operators, it became known about the compromise reached: the companies agreed to cancel intranet roaming.


Canceled in Russia or not intranet roaming in 2018?

The promises of the companies, the assurances of the head of the Ministry of Communications and the decisive attitude of the antimonopoly department gave reason to believe that this phenomenon of the Russian cellular market will soon become a thing of the past.

The latest news shows that the antimonopoly service has no complaints about national roaming: on February 15, the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Artemyev admitted that work in this direction had been carried out.

Meanwhile, checking the reports of mobile operators on intranet roaming led to new antimonopoly investigations: on March 5, 2018, the FAS opened a case against MTS and MegaFon, and on March 12, against VimpelCom. The reason is the inflated cost of communication and the introduction of a daily fee for customers leaving their home region.

Operators say they have complied with the requirements.

"Megaphone"

The fact that Megafon canceled roaming in Russia is stated in a message on the company's website dated December 21, 2017. According to the information, there will be no charge for received calls from local subscribers, and the cost of outgoing calls to numbers in the host region will not exceed 2 rubles. How much other calls will cost, the operator did not specify. The changes will be implemented in stages.

Until this happens, Megafon subscribers (except for guests of the Crimea and Sevastopol, operators have special offers for these regions) can use the following options:

  • "Fell yourself like at your own home". Preservation of home conditions costs 15 rubles per day (subscription fee), you need to pay 30 rubles for connection;
  • "All Russia" with free incoming calls, the price per minute of an outgoing call and one sent SMS is 3 rubles. The first connection is free, the second connection costs 30 rubles. Daily subscription fee - 7 rubles.

Since March 12, 2018, Megafon has reduced the prices for communication services in Crimea for numbers connected to the tariffs "Turn on!", "Go to zero" and "Per second". Until the cost of calls at other rates is reduced, the company offers to activate the Crimea option for free on the following terms: monthly fee - 15 rubles per day, free incoming, outgoing - 4 rubles per minute, SMS - 3 rubles, Internet traffic - 5 rubles per 1 MB.

MTS

The MTS operator canceled roaming in Russia in 2018 at the Super MTS and My Friend tariffs - from March 14, for customers who have connected to them, incoming calls from local subscribers are free, outgoing calls are charged at home. Communication with an interlocutor from another region will cost 5.5 rubles - the cost of calls (both incoming and outgoing) per minute. The prices for SMS have also been reduced.

The cost of communication for other MTS tariffs can be checked on the operator's website in the "Roaming and long distance" section. So, for a Muscovite with the Smart tariff, telephone calls in Kazan will cost:

  • incoming - free of charge if the call is from a local number, 5.50 rubles per minute - for other calls;
  • outgoing - free for the first 550 minutes, then you have to pay 2 rubles per minute for calls to local numbers, 5 rubles - to the rest.

"Beeline"

For customers traveling in Russia, Beeline offers the My Country option. The price for incoming and outgoing calls is the same - 3 rubles per minute, there is no subscription fee, but when connected, 25 rubles will be debited from the account. This service will be useful for those who have connected to the old tariff plans.

In the new Beeline canceled roaming in Russia: in 2018, home conditions in different volumes are preserved in the tariffs of the Vse line. The monthly cost of maintenance ranges from 400 to 2,500 rubles. For the cheapest (“All 1”), only incoming calls will be free in another region.

The most expensive - "All 5" includes:

  • free incoming;
  • unlimited number of calls to Beeline numbers;
  • 5,000 minutes for calls to all numbers;
  • 500 SMS to all numbers.

When will Tele2 cancel roaming in Russia?

This company still has time - the operator's report was satisfied by the FAS, and the agency allowed him to adjust the tariffs until May 31, 2018.

As of March, the cost of calls, messages and the Internet depends on the territory of stay of the Tele2 client.

  • up to 1 ruble per minute for all incoming calls;
  • up to 3 rubles per minute outgoing;
  • up to 3 rubles per text message.

Cellular operators who resist this are waiting for antitrust proceedings. There is already one episode: in relation to the "big four" operators (Beeline, MTS, Megafon, Tele2) the case on the issue of national roaming. Anatoly Golomolzin, deputy head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, announced this yesterday.

There are several types of roaming in our country: national, intranet and separately in Crimea. National turns on when the network of one or another operator is not available in any region and the subscriber is forced to use the services of another company.

The FAS claims, as Anatoly Golomolzin explained, caused monopolistically high prices set by the operators. "We are talking about a significant excess of prices that are applied in roaming, compared with what the operators bear," - said the deputy head of the FAS.

The antimonopoly department also has questions about the tariff policy of mobile operators in terms of intra-network roaming - it operates within a certain network throughout the country and differs by region. This leads to the fact that in the "guest" region, for example, while on a business trip, subscribers pay more than at home.

At the end of July, the Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a warning to the Big Four demanding that they change their intranet roaming rates. In mid-August, before the 13th, cellular companies must inform the antimonopoly agency about the fulfillment of these requirements. If this does not happen, the FAS promises to initiate another antimonopoly case on the issue of intranet roaming.

"There was a discussion with the operators all this time, there were four meetings of the working group to discuss this issue.

Therefore, they have no reason not to comply with the requirements of the FAS," Anatoly Golomolzin stressed.

Subscribers, he said, should receive the same tariffs in roaming as at home. "Differences in tariffs can only be economically justified. A tenfold difference in tariffs when moving subscribers from one region to another cannot be justified by any circumstances," the deputy head of the FAS believes.

There are countries in the European Union that are territorially located from each other as close as, for example, the northern regions of Russia in relation to the central ones. But this does not prevent European countries from applying a zero tariff for communication services, Golomolzin recalled. Domestic cellular companies have so far only abandoned the use of the term "intra-network roaming", but economically continued to apply tariffs when providing communication services, he stated.

Consideration of the national roaming case and possible proceedings related to the provision of services in intranet roaming, if the operators do not comply with the requirements of the antimonopoly authority, can take up to nine months. "The deadlines are approximately close - both on the intranet and on the issue of national roaming. Decisions will be made at about the same time," Golomolzin specified.

Thus, consideration of the issue may be delayed until the end of the first quarter of 2018, the FAS believes. "We hope that by this time the conditions for competition will be restored," the deputy head of the antimonopoly service summed up.