Cancellation of roaming in Russia and Crimea from 06/01/2020

SIMFEROPOL, May 30 – RIA Novosti Crimea. On June 1, the federal law abolishing national roaming on the territory of the Russian Federation comes into force. From now on, subscribers of Russian mobile operators will not have to overpay for using cellular communications outside their “home” region.

The cancellation of roaming also applies to Crimea and Sevastopol. The largest Russian operators have in fact already switched to new operating standards. Local regional operators have announced their full readiness to implement the requirements of the law.

To the history of the issue 

Almost from the very beginning of the development of cellular communications in Russia, several types of roaming were in effect, for which subscribers were charged a fee. Thus, intranet roaming involves the provision of communication services to subscribers moving from one region of the country to another within the coverage area of ​​one operator.

If the operator does not have its own network in the “guest” region, its subscriber, when moving to this region, automatically connects to the network of another operator with whom the corresponding agreement has been concluded. In this case, national roaming is already in effect.

In March 2014, the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol became subjects of the Russian Federation, but large Russian mobile operators have still not opened their representative offices on the peninsula, fearing international sanctions. The absence of the so-called “Big Four” here (Beeline, MTS, MegaFon and Tele2) has become a serious problem for their subscribers coming to Crimea on vacation or on business.

Guests of the peninsula were forced to use the services of local telecom operators, with which the mainland market players entered into roaming agreements. And often these services were quite expensive.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has repeatedly stated that it is economically and technologically unreasonable to charge fees for intranet and national roaming, sent corresponding instructions to the largest mobile operators, initiated cases against them for violating antimonopoly legislation, and issued fines. By the fall of last year, the department achieved the abolition of intranet roaming. Finally, at the end of last year, the State Duma adopted and the President signed the law “On Amendments to Articles 46 and 54 of the Federal Law “On Communications”.

According to this document, from June 1, 2019, the mobile radiotelephone operator in its network establishes the same conditions for the provision of services to each subscriber, regardless of what region of Russia he is located in. Thus, domestic Russian roaming was cancelled.

Inbox – free

On May 27, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a resolution that consolidates previously adopted legislative norms at the level of by-laws.

Thanks to the measures taken, the subscriber will be charged the same fee for calls in any subject of the Russian Federation, even if the user has left his “home” region.

Also, with the entry into force of new changes to the legislation, the roaming problem of Crimea and Sevastopol was resolved.

“According to the new changes, when Crimeans visit other regions of Russia, additional fees for incoming calls will not be charged; payment for services will correspond to the tariffs established in Crimea.

The largest cellular operators have already practically switched to a new format of work.

© RIA Novosti. Yakov Andreev

Installation of cell towers

“Now subscribers need to think about how much an incoming call costs when moving around the country. It doesn’t matter whether it’s intranet roaming or national, there is no other roaming within the country, so all incoming calls will be free,” said MTS Secretary Alexey Merkutov on the Rossiya 1 TV channel.

The VimpelCom company (Beeline brand) reported that incoming calls to subscribers throughout the Russian Federation, including Crimea, became free from May 29.

“From May 29, 2019, for all Beeline subscribers, when located in the Russian Federation in the networks of other operators, including the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, any incoming calls become free.

No matter where the Beeline client is located and no matter what network he registers on in the Russian Federation, including the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, any incoming calls when traveling around Russia will be free, just like at home.

The new conditions will apply automatically on all tariff plans for all subscribers - individuals with all forms of payment; activation of additional options is not required,” the message on the company’s website says.

“Starting May 31, for Tele2 subscribers traveling to Sevastopol and Crimea, incoming calls will become free. The remaining parameters for the provision of services do not change when users are in Crimea,” informs the operator Tele2.

MegaFon press secretary Dmitry Lukyanchikov, in a commentary to Gazeta.RU, noted that the company has long been ready to abolish national roaming in Crimea.

“From June 1, 2019, all incoming calls will cost zero rubles per minute. All other services will be charged in accordance with the selected tariff and connected options,” he said.

make yourself at home

Crimean mobile operators also announced their readiness to enforce the legislation regarding the abolition of roaming from June 1.

“We have agreements with all telecom operators whose SIM cards subscribers come here with. Agreements have been concluded with both large and small operators that operate in the territory of one or several constituent entities of the Russian Federation,” the director of the largest telecom operator in Crimea, K-Telecom, told reporters.

This is confirmed by the regional department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

“Large operators have stated that they are ready to make changes to tariffs in accordance with the law. Payments will not be charged only for incoming calls; they will be charged as in the home region. The FAS believes that measures have been taken to implement the legislation; we will monitor the situation,” said Vugar Mehdiyev, head of the antimonopoly control department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service for the Republic of Kazakhstan and Sevastopol.

According to experts, with the abolition of domestic roaming, travel around the country, including to Crimea, will become more comfortable. In addition, this will increase the tourist attractiveness of the peninsula.

“Russian telecom operators are canceling fees for incoming calls when they are in the networks of Crimean operators. Accordingly, subscribers of Crimean operators, coming to the territory of other constituent entities of the Russian Federation, will also not pay for incoming calls.

This has been achieved for a very long time, and now operators will work this way. Prices will change for the better, that is, there will be no overpayments.

Inside Russia, we bring all prices to a single denominator so that there is no imbalance when traveling around the country,” said Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, in a commentary to RIA Novosti Crimea.

© RIA Novosti. Vladimir Song

mobile connection

In his opinion, with the transition to a new standard of work, operators will not incur significant losses. Therefore, communication prices should not rise.

Operators have been preparing for the innovation for quite a long time, and the necessary changes were made to all tariff lines in order to compensate for the abolition of roaming and at the same time not lose customers in the highly competitive Russian cellular market.

Experts note that operators will be able to compensate for losses by increasing the volume of services, in particular, more active use of the mobile Internet.

In addition, subscribers will still have to pay for outgoing long-distance calls. That is, if a Crimean comes, for example, to Moscow, then calls within the capital and the Moscow region will cost him the same as at home. But if he decides to call home, he will pay as for long-distance calls. The amount of the fee depends on which tariff the client has chosen.

Although in past years tourists coming to Crimea had to bear large expenses for communications, this money was also used to improve its quality in the region. Thanks to high roaming prices in Crimea, local operators were able to make good money and invest in modernizing their networks.

“Crimea was very dependent on the base that was inherited from Ukraine - old networks and rather poor equipment. Investments in Crimea were made due to the fact that roaming prices were high. This happened for four years.

The first income that local operators received was largely spent on network construction. Today, Crimea still lags behind other regions in terms of communication quality, but the gap is being eliminated relatively quickly.

What will happen to international roaming?

International roaming charges will continue to apply. However, plans are already being voiced to abolish it, for now within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. In addition to the Russian Federation, it includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

“The first step will be the adoption of an agreement to create a single tariff space for call termination services. The draft document was submitted by Russia, is being worked out at the site of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and we expect that this year we will agree on the document for its speedy signing,” Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Maxim Akimov said recently.

The head of the FAS Russia, Igor Artemyev, believes that first of all this needs to be done on the scale of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

Meanwhile, Crimea, which is under sanctions, is already ready to begin providing international roaming services for foreign telecom operators.

The peninsula is regularly visited by foreign politicians, businessmen, and social activists who experience inconvenience due to the lack of international roaming and the inability to make calls from their “home” numbers. Therefore, work in this direction is also of great importance.

In particular, according to the director of K-Telecom Vladimir Zaitsev, the company is open to concluding agreements with foreign telecom operators.

“The type of installed telecommunications equipment, information and billing systems used allows us to begin providing international roaming services for foreign operators whose subscribers arrive in Crimea.

Nothing prevents Crimean operators from starting to provide international roaming services. If operators from other countries make a request, we are ready to process it.

If agreements are concluded, foreigners will be able to use their SIM cards in Crimea without any problems,” Zaitsev said in a commentary to RIA Novosti.

Source: https://crimea.ria.ru/society/20190531/1116760313.html

On June 1, intranet roaming in the Russian Federation, including Crimea, will be cancelled. Let's understand the situation

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has legislated the abolition of intranet roaming.

At the same time, they placed special emphasis on Crimea: calls on the peninsula traditionally cost Russians a pretty penny.

The problem lies in the territorial affiliation of the peninsula. Crimea is considered Russian only in Russia and a couple of other small states. Because of this, the work of operators and banks there is difficult.

First of all, organizations fear sanctions, including the exclusion of their shares from trading on global exchanges. Therefore, many operators work on the peninsula only through the towers of local operators, and do not have their own networks in Crimea.

Because of this, customers are connected to the towers of local operators. Such cooperation comes at a price. And it’s clear who does this: since clients need to call, then let them pay.

But then the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation comes and says that everything should be different. In general, the situation is complicated.

Therefore, I turned to three operators from the Big Four (MTS works normally in Crimea) with the question of how customer service will change after June 1. And then difficulties began: representatives of the operators began to answer very evasively.

Inbox if you are in Crimea

All representatives of the operators especially emphasized that incoming calls within the network will become free. Beeline has it since May 29, Tele2 has it since May 31, and MegaFon has it since June 1.

That is, while in Crimea, you can safely receive calls within the network.

Outgoing calls from Crimea

This is no longer very similar to the abolition of intranet roaming. For example, for Tele2 subscribers the cost of a call, SMS and one megabyte of Internet costs three rubles. Yes, I really wrote the cost of one megabyte.

Beeline has a different price: 2 rubles per minute, per SMS and 2 rubles for the first 3 MB of Internet traffic, and then 200 rubles for a 110 MB package.

A MegaFon representative said that for outgoing calls the situation will not change and everything will be calculated according to the old tariffs.

Outgoing calls to Crimea

For Beeline subscribers, such calls are no longer considered intranet roaming. They are charged as long-distance. The cost varies depending on the specific tariff.

MegaFon's answer is the same as in the previous paragraph: for outgoing calls the situation will not change and everything will be calculated according to the old tariffs.

As a Tele2 press secretary told me, such calls will be free for clients of this operator. It is not clear why Tele2 will do this, but Beeline and MegaFon will do it differently. Probably some of the operators are more progressive or some do not have all the information.

Bottom line

It turns out that the “cancellation of intranet roaming, including Crimea” for all operators, except Tele2 in most situations and MTS, concerns only incoming calls.

At the same time, the Law “On Communications” is not violated: the operators do not have their own equipment, they work on the hardware of other operators.

Source: https://wylsa.com/1-iyunya-otmenyayut-vnutrisetevoj-rouming-po-rf-vklyuchaya-krym-razbiraemsya-v-situacii/

Roaming throughout Russia will be canceled from June 1 - we explain the news

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This news will appeal to those who like to travel around their native land. Now you officially don’t have to pay for long-distance calls to your mobile phone.

The other day, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a government decree establishing the abolition of intranet roaming. The key word is reinforcing. All mobile operators have canceled roaming in Russia since August 2018, and the signed resolution will legalize this at the regulatory level.

For a long time, the exception was Crimea: operators there did not want to cancel roaming, but now they too fall under the new regulation. The rules come into force on June 1 for all regions of Russia.

We all remember how we used to have to add additional options to the tariff when traveling around Russia.

Often, upon returning home, they forgot to turn off the option, and money continued to fly out of the account at great speed. This is what roaming looked like. Now everything will be more convenient and faster.

We turned to an expert to explain the new system of operation of cellular operators and to understand how the absence of on-network roaming will help us.

The main convenience now is that a person will use the tariff of his home region throughout the country. You won’t have to remember how much and where calls cost. If you call from Moscow to Vladivostok, the cost will be in accordance with the operator’s regular tariff.

If you call within the same operator, from MTS to MTS, for example, this is usually included in the package and does not require additional costs. But a call to a landline number will be more expensive than a regular call to a regional number. Such calls are usually not included in the package.

If you are traveling to another city in Russia, you do not need to change your SIM card or connect additional options. The cancellation of roaming also includes SMS and Internet. But here, traveling subscribers should be reminded that some operators are removing the SMS service from the tariff.

That is, there may be no roaming, but the terms of your home tariff will dictate their own rules.

Source: https://www.aviasales.ru/blog/news-rouming

Roaming has been completely abolished in Russia. in Crimea and Sevastopol too

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12/18/2018, Tue, 17:53, Moscow time, Igor Korolev

The State Duma adopted in the second reading a bill banning roaming when traveling in Russia. Previously, mobile operators voluntarily canceled intranet roaming, but the roaming component remains when traveling to Crimea.

The State Duma adopted in the second reading a bill on the abolition of intranet and national roaming. The document was submitted to parliament in 2017 by a number of deputies from the A Just Russia faction, together with its head Sergei Mironov .

The document represents amendments to the Law “On Communications”. The first version of the bill was approved by deputies in the first reading in the summer of 2018. At that time, it was about amending Article 54 of the law, which determines the procedure for paying for communication services.

According to the first version of the bill, payment for telephone connections between subscribers within the Russian Federation was to be carried out at a single tariff, regardless of the location of both the called and calling subscriber.

How the bill was changed between the first and second readings

In the second reading, the amendment proposed by the head of the State Duma Committee on Communications and Information Policy Leonid Levin . New changes are being made to another article of the Law “On Communications” - 46, which establishes the responsibilities of operators.

Now mobile operators will have a new obligation: the terms of service on the territory of the Russian Federation must be the same regardless of whether the subscriber is located in the region specified in the decision to allocate a numbering resource to this operator and which includes the subscriber’s number, or outside it.

The abolition of roaming fees in Russia will please cellular subscribers, but will hurt regional operators

In addition, one detail will still be added to the above-mentioned Article 54. The article contains a clause establishing exceptions for charging for incoming calls. One such exception is when a call is accepted by a subscriber located outside of their home region.

Now it is assumed that fees 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.

How the authorities fought the abolition of roaming when traveling in Russia

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) began the fight to abolish roaming when subscribers travel around Russia in 2017. By that time, there were two types of roaming.

Preferential intranet roaming was provided outside the subscriber’s home region in those regions of the federation where his cellular operator operates. More expensive national roaming appears in regions where there is no network of the operator serving the subscriber.

The "Big Three" mobile operators - VimpelCom, MTS and Megafon - have long built networks throughout Russia, except for Crimea and Sevastopol. The fourth largest mobile operator Tele2 does not have its own networks in a number of regions. But tariffs for national roaming are equal to preferential tariffs for intranet roaming in all regions, except, again, Crimea and Sevastopol.

Since the FAS was unable to reach an agreement with mobile operators on the abolition of roaming, in the summer of 2017 the service issued an order to the Big Four to abolish intranet roaming. Due to the fact that this order was not complied with, the service opened a case regarding inflated prices by the specified operators in national roaming.

At the end of 2017-2018 “Big Four” mobile operators have significantly reduced roaming prices in Crimea. Intra-network roaming was also partially abolished: when traveling around the country within the operator’s network, the subscriber continued to be served at his home tariff, but incoming calls were free only if they originated from the region of residence.

The FAS was not satisfied with this approach, and a new stage of proceedings began between the service and the operators. Finally, at the end of August 2018, VimpelCom, MTS, Megafon and Tele2 announced a voluntary refusal of intranet roaming.

Thus, the current bill, if finally approved, will in practice lead to the abolition of national roaming. The Big Four mobile operators, as already noted, provide this kind of roaming only in the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol.

Negative consequences for the latest regional operators

At the same time, a number of regional cellular operators continue to operate in Russia, for whose subscribers national roaming is provided almost throughout the entire territory of Russia.

These are, in particular, Ekaterinburg-based Motiv, Tattelecom from Tatarstan, as well as operators from Crimea and Sevastopol.

Previously, they warned the government about the negative consequences for them from the ban on national roaming.

After the publication of this material, the Megafon press service stated that in terms of national roaming, thanks to work to reduce mutual settlements with Crimean operators, the company was able to reduce prices for subscribers.

“When traveling to Crimea, incoming calls from local numbers are already free, and the cost of outgoing calls to numbers of all Russian operators is only 3 rubles. in a minute,” the company noted.

“After the law comes into force, we will comply with its requirements.”

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Source: https://cnews.ru/news/top/2018-12-18_v_rossii_polnostyu_zapretili_roumingv_krymu

Roaming in Crimea should be canceled in summer

National roaming in Crimea will be canceled after June 1 /Evgeniy Razumny / Vedomosti

National roaming in Crimea will be canceled after June 1, TASS quotes the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Igor Artemyev. From this day forward, amendments to the Law “On Communications” (signed by the President at the end of 2018) will come into force, prohibiting the establishment of different conditions for subscribers in their home region and when traveling around Russia.

National roaming is enabled if the operator does not have its own network in the region and the phone connects to the network of another operator. None of the federal operators officially operate in Crimea, so as not to be subject to American sanctions.

Therefore, they are forced to pay to join the networks of local operators - K-Telecom (Win mobile brand), KTK-Telecom (Volna Mobile), Krymtelecom and Sevtelecom, explains Telecom Daily CEO Denis Kuskov.

Because of this, operators were unable to reduce prices to the level of their home region, Kuskov points out.

VimpelCom (operating under the Beeline brand) reduced prices in Crimea about a year ago, but in order to zero out fees for incoming calls, it is necessary to reduce the cost of connecting to the networks of local operators, on which the cost of roaming depends, an operator representative says.

T2 RTK Holding (Tele2 brand) is working on the abolition of roaming in Crimea together with other market participants - for this, the conditions of Crimean operators need to be brought into line with the commercial realities relevant for the rest of Russia, the operator’s representative agrees.

Megafon, according to its representative, has long been ready to cancel roaming in Crimea and promises that this will not lead to an increase in tariffs for mobile communications. The MTS representative only promised that the operator would comply with current legislation.

telecom operators earned revenue from national roaming, deputy Sergei Mironov wrote in the explanatory note to the bill on its abolition. In 2018, their total revenue amounted to 957 billion rubles.

– 5% more than in 2017, when operators’ income reached RUB 911 billion. Thus, national roaming in 2018 and 2017. brought operators 14.4 billion and 13.7 billion rubles.

accordingly, Vedomosti calculated

The abolition of roaming in Crimea is primarily a burden on Crimean operators, since they received significant income from the Big Four, says iKS-Consulting analyst Maxim Savvatin. Regulators will probably have to unify agreements between Crimean operators and the Big Four, he believes.

FAS expects that it will be possible to reach an agreement with the Crimean operators.

Now conditions are being created for local companies so that they can make money on turnover, and not at the expense of high prices for mobile communications, Artemyev said: “As the experience of Russia shows, large companies told us that if roaming goes away, they will suffer huge losses.

But in fact, due to the fact that their revenue increased from the increased number of subscribers, they only won. This will happen here too (in Crimea - Vedomosti).” Moreover, this year “a record number of people will come to Crimea,” he believes.

Crimean operators will not have losses due to the zeroing of fees for incoming calls, assures Elena Zaeva, head of the department for regulation of communications and information technologies of the FAS.

“As a result, everyone benefits from this, as it should be in a competitive economy, when absolutely everyone benefits from the comprehensive adoption of measures, the systematic implementation of solutions to issues.

As a result, we have an increase in the number of subscribers who use communication services by moving to other regions of the country, an increase in traffic volumes, an increase in the income of telecom operators, and the opportunity to save subscribers - the overall benefits are obvious.”

Source: https://www.vedomosti.ru/technology/articles/2019/04/24/800137-rouming-krimu-otmenen

Roaming in Crimea will be canceled from June 1, 2019

Simferopol, May 22, 2019, 12:26 — REGNUM National roaming in Crimea for cellular subscribers will cease to operate after June 1, 2019. Mobile operators are already ready for this step. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Internal Policy, Information and Communications of the Republic Vadim Pervykh .

Apollinary Vasnetsov. Crimea. 1890

Residents of Crimea will be freed from national roaming

“Communication operators providing mobile radiotelephone services in the republic report their readiness to implement the requirements […] within the time period established by law,” TASS quotes the official as saying.

As REGNUM , at the end of 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law abolishing national roaming in Russia.

In accordance with the document, from June 1, 2019, the mobile radiotelephone operator in its network establishes the same conditions for the provision of services to each subscriber.

It does not matter whether the subscriber is in his region or outside it.

• Also on topic: Fees for incoming calls will be abolished, but Crimea will remain an exception
• Earlier, the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Igor Artemyev , recalled that the fears of large Russian companies about possible large losses due to the abolition of roaming turned out to be groundless: due to the fact that their revenue from the increased number of subscribers increased, they only benefited.
• Read the development of the story: Medvedev signed a decree abolishing intranet roaming

Background

Cellular or mobile communications is a type of radio communication based on the use of repeaters. This name appeared because the conventionally defined coverage areas of repeaters on flat terrain resemble a honeycomb. A cell phone or other communication terminal device communicates with a telephone base station through repeaters using an analog or digital protocol. When leaving the coverage area of ​​one repeater, the phone enters the coverage area of ​​another, and the connection is not interrupted. Cellular stations are connected to the landline telephone network and to the cellular networks of other operator companies. Different regions of the world use different cellular communication protocols; recently, digital systems have almost replaced analogue ones. The most common system is GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). Digital networks make it possible to provide mobile Internet access. Currently, the fourth generation of the GSM system is being implemented, and the fifth generation is next, which will provide new enormous opportunities.

Source: https://regnum.ru/news/2633176.html

Cellular operators have begun to cancel fees for incoming roaming in Crimea :: Technologies and media :: RBC

Tele2 and Beeline announced changes in tariffs for roaming services in Crimea. From June 1, amendments will come into force, according to which incoming calls should become free in the networks of any operators throughout the country.

Alexey Filippov / RIA Novosti

From May 29, VimpelCom (Beeline brand) will cancel fees for incoming calls when traveling around Russia on the networks of other operators; such calls will become free for subscribers. VimpelCom press secretary Anna Aibasheva told RBC about this.

We are talking about so-called national roaming: when a subscriber enters a region or area where his cellular operator does not have a communication network, he can be served in the networks of other companies.

For example, VimpelCom does not have networks in Crimea, Sevastopol, some remote areas of the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, the Republic of Buryatia, and the Trans-Baikal Territory.

The cost of other services will remain the same: a minute of outgoing calls, SMS and the first 3 MB of Internet traffic when traveling to specified places will cost VimpelCom subscribers 2.03 rubles.

On Tuesday, May 21, T2 RTK Holding (Tele2) announced that from May 31 it will cancel fees for incoming calls for customers coming to Crimea and Sevastopol. The remaining parameters for the provision of services will not change when users are on the peninsula: a minute of outgoing calls to any numbers in Russia, 1 MB of Internet traffic and SMS will cost 3 rubles.

From June 1, amendments to the Law “On Communications” will come into force in Russia, according to which operators can charge subscribers for incoming calls only if they are outside the country. This follows from amendments to the Law “On Communications” adopted at the end of 2018. Until now, the operator had the right to establish other conditions in the service agreement.

None of the major Russian cellular operators is present in Crimea due to the threat of sanctions from the US and EU (MTS and the owner of VimpelCom are traded on American exchanges, all four cooperate with foreign equipment suppliers).

At the same time, T2 RTK Holding is not formally present in a number of regions of “mainland” Russia: the network of this operator covers 67 regions.

As a representative of T2 RTK Holding explained, last year they canceled the surcharge for subscribers traveling throughout the country, except for Crimea and Sevastopol.

Source: https://www.rbc.ru/technology_and_media/22/05/2019/5ce4ef399a7947f97ab16f0b

When will roaming be canceled in Crimea in 2019: MTS, Megafon, Tele2, Beeline

In 2014, Crimea became part of the Russian Federation, but mobile communication services in the region are still provided through expensive national roaming.

In 2018, its cost decreased, but the minutes and traffic included in package tariffs still do not work here.

According to statements by the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Igor Artemyev, the abolition of roaming in Crimea will happen this summer.

Content

According to the document, it will disappear not only in Crimea, but also in other regions.

The essence of the law is this: regardless of the subscriber’s location in Russia, he must be served at the home tariff, without additional markups and alternative tariffs.

The innovation will affect all Russian cellular operators, including virtual ones - these include MegaFon, Beeline, Tele2, Tinkoff Mobile, Danycom, Yota and many others. As for MTS subscribers, today they can already travel around the Crimean Peninsula without any roaming. Other operators offer alternative pricing with per-minute and per-megabyte payment.

Conditions for subscribers after roaming cancellation

The lack of national roaming in Crimea is an opportunity to communicate on the same terms as at home. As an example, let’s take the “My Online” tariff plan from Tele2 - it includes 500 minutes to Russian numbers, 15 GB of Internet, unlimited within the network and unlimited on instant messengers and social networks. These packages do not work in Crimea; communication services are charged differently:

• Incoming calls – 1 rub/min;
• Outgoing calls locally and throughout Russia – 3 rubles/min;
• Sending SMS and MMS within Russia – 3 rubles/piece;
• Mobile Internet – 3 rubles/MB.

No home packages or unlimited – only strict per-minute and per-megabyte pricing. With the abolition of roaming, subscribers will have the usual home tariff - they will be able to use the Internet without problems, actively communicate on social networks and upload hundreds of photos from their summer vacation without the tedious counting of expensive megabytes.

The only problem may be the increased load on the Crimean cellular networks - in the summer they experience heavy loads that worsen the quality of communication. With the disappearance of Crimean (national) roaming, it could become even worse.

Why are there difficulties canceling roaming?

The operators themselves do not want to cancel roaming on the peninsula, despite pressure from the FAS. In fact, their networks are absent here, which is due to the fear of sanctions from Western countries for working on the peninsula.

“As the experience of Russia shows, large companies told us that if roaming goes away, they will suffer huge losses. But in fact, due to the fact that their revenue increased from the increased number of subscribers, they only benefited.

Their incomes actually increased even after taxes. This will happen here too.

Especially because Crimea turned out to be so attractive for Russian tourists that already this year a record number of people will come to visit you,” noted the head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev.

Source: https://tarifkin.ru/operatory/krymskij-rouming-ischeznet-s-1-iyunya-2019-goda

Is it possible to be “a little Russian”? Residents of Crimea were spared the cancellation of roaming in Russia

The first days of summer 2019 became a stunning disappointment for hundreds of thousands of Crimeans. For two years they waited for the abolition of internal roaming in the country, which seemed to have once again become their Fatherland. But after the abolition of roaming throughout Russia, they will continue to pay high prices for calls to other regions of the country.

Back in the winter of 2017, sensational news was reported by Deputy Head of the FAS Anatoly Golomolzin. “We agreed that we will radically close this topic in relation to Crimea in the first quarter of the year,” Golomzin said.

The authorities announced this as a kind of gift to Russia on the eve of the 230th anniversary of the first journey of Empress Catherine the Great to the shores of Taurida.

According to the deputy head of the FAS, “the agency will simplify the procedures for interconnection of telecom operators and remove excessive requirements for companies.”

To say that there was “stormy applause in the studio” would be an understatement. The entire peninsula was incredibly happy about the news from the Federal Communications Agency.

Calls to the mainland, Russian relatives, friends, work and business colleagues, made through the network of the local monopolist MTS-Kuban, cost Crimeans very serious sums. The information was confirmed by the head of the republic Sergei Aksenov.

Alas, almost no one paid attention to the small clarification of the officials - they say, “the problem should not exist for subscribers traveling to the peninsula.” For some reason, the natives thought that such happiness would touch them too.

Finally, the wait! “From May 31, incoming calls became free for subscribers traveling to Sevastopol and Crimea,” reported the Big Four, Beeline, MTS, MegaFon and Tele2. The joyful excitement involuntarily captured the Crimeans.

Without reading into the details, people dialed Moscow, St. Petersburg and other mainland codes. First of all, they called MTS numbers there. After all, they have the same company, and many were absolutely sure that canceling roaming would definitely work here.

There are already statistics that from June 1 to June 5, at least 600 thousand residents of the Republic of Kazakhstan made such calls. We talked to our heart's content until the conversation was cut off due to the depleted account. On average, each caller lost 100-150 rubles.

It is not difficult to calculate that people lost at least 60 million rubles per circle. Although in reality the real amount may be much higher.

In fact, Crimeans were cheated out of this money by organizing a huge PR campaign around the supposedly canceled roaming. And no one is to blame! This often happened on the criminal streets of the dashing 90s. But it’s hard to imagine that such a joke could be pulled off on a national scale.

Suddenly it turned out that the long-awaited cancellation of roaming only applies to guests arriving in Crimea.

“They will pay the tariffs that were in their home region,” rejoices the Republican Minister of Internal Policy, Information and Communications Sergei Zyryanov.

Well, as for the Crimeans, now they will not have to pay for incoming calls if you are on the mainland. Everything else is at the same high rates.

People ask the question - if this is not a scam, then what is it? Here is the extremely sad post on Facebook of the famous Feodosian blogger Alexander Talipov:

— For example, previously in Crimea the MTS “Smart Business” tariff worked without restrictions; it represented 1000 minutes for any operator per month, including Crimean ones. In recent days, changes have been made, calls to local operators are now 3 rubles per minute, 1 MB of Internet is 1 ruble.

And this is only an “improvement” for Crimea; for other regions there are no changes. In the same situation, the “Unlimited” tariff, etc. The operator advises to activate the “Russia Home Package” or “Russia Home Package+” service in order to use all the features of the package.

Only the price... “Russia Home Package” - 50 rubles per day, “Russia Home Package +” - 500 rubles per month.. Who wanted to cancel roaming? Keep improving.

Source: http://antifashist.com/item/mozhno-li-byt-nemnogo-rossijskim-otmena-rouminga-v-rossii-zhitelej-kryma-oboshla-storonoj.html

“We are ready for the abolition of roaming”: How Crimea is being prepared for communication with the mainland

Mobile operators in Crimea are ready to cancel national roaming from June 1.

At the same time, by May 24, three departments - the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation - must submit to the government their additional proposals for the provision of universal communication services to residents of Crimea and Sevastopol.

Meanwhile, on the peninsula they promised to conduct an inventory of technical devices for the full implementation of universal communication services.

Crimea is ready to cancel national roaming from June. As stated by Deputy Minister of Internal Policy, Information and Communications of the Republic Vadim Pervykh, the operators of the peninsula are ready for cancellation from June 1.

As noted earlier by the FAS, national roaming in Crimea will be abolished, and operators will be able to compensate for losses by increasing the influx of customers.

It is worth noting that large Russian operators do not operate in Crimea for fear of falling under Western sanctions.

Currently, communication services in the region are provided by K-Telecom (Win-mobile brand), KTK-Telecom (Volna Mobile), Krymtelecom and Sevtelecom.

Cancel roaming

The federal law abolishing roaming comes into force on June 1, 2019. In accordance with the document, the mobile radiotelephone operator in its network establishes equal conditions for the provision of services for each subscriber. It is noted that it does not matter whether the subscriber is in his region or outside it.

• It is clarified that the subscriber will pay only for the telephone connection established with the called subscriber located outside this territory.
• The head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev, previously noted that operators’ fears that they would suffer losses due to the abolition of roaming were unfounded.
• “In fact, because the revenue from the increasing number of subscribers increases, they only benefit,” he explained. In addition, it was noted that the demand for Crimea during the holiday season will provide a high level of profit for cellular operators without national roaming
• Inventory
• “Communication operators providing mobile radiotelephone communication services on the territory of the republic report their readiness to implement the requirements of the law within the period established by law,” it was confirmed in Crimea.
• As Deputy Minister of Internal Policy, Information and Communications of the Republic Vadim Pervykh says in a TASS commentary, active work is also underway in the region to introduce universal communication services.

The corresponding issue was raised in detail at the April government meeting. Then Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to make additional proposals for the implementation of these services in Crimea by May 24.

At the moment, only an inventory of communication services has been announced on the peninsula.

With its help, it is planned to establish where it is possible to provide universal communication services and how much it will cost. The timing of the inventory in Crimea has not been reported.

Source: https://tsargrad.tv/news/k-otmene-rouminga-gotovy-kak-krym-gotovjat-k-svjazi-s-materikom_200695

Roaming was canceled, tariffs were increased: features of Russian mobile communications in Crimea

Russian telephone operator MTS announced an increase in the cost of mobile communication tariffs for Crimean users who use the “Super MTS (Kuban)” tariff plan. The operator introduces a connection fee for all outgoing calls in the amount of 1 ruble for each call if the call duration is from 1 to 15 minutes.

On June 1, 2019, the law on the abolition of national roaming in Russia and annexed Crimea, signed in May by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev .

However, the Russian Big Four operators do not work on the peninsula - MTS, Beeline, MegaFon, Tele2 - and their subscribers in Crimea used roaming from local cellular companies K-Telecom (Win-mobile brand), " KTK-Telecom (Volna Mobile), Krymtelecom and Sevtelecom.

Earlier, in a commentary for the Crimea 24 TV channel, Boris Borunov, , spoke about the reasons for the problems with mobile communications on the peninsula:

“The development of mobile communications in Crimea continues, but there will be many dissatisfied. Not all areas can provide the mobile communications that are needed. This is due to the fact that many base stations are being removed from sites today.

They are removed because either the owner has changed, or the legislation is different.

It will take 3-8 months to build a new base station, so I just want to ask both journalists and the owners of the facilities where the base stations are located, that if it is turned off or removed, then he, too, will use it in this area much worse or not at all use."

Editor-in-chief and administrator of the site mobile-review.com Eldar Murtazin believes that by raising tariffs, Kuban MTS is trying to push Crimean subscribers to change operators.

– In Crimea, those who use MTS services connect in Kuban, in the Krasnodar Territory. MTS itself does not operate on the peninsula. Accordingly, tariffs are introduced so that the cost of services is higher and people switch to operators in Crimea.

There is good coverage and reasonable tariff plans. It is not entirely correct to constantly use cards from another region in national roaming - in Russia there is a limit of 1-2 months.

Those who have been using the services of Kuban MTS for a long time, more than two months, received an SMS about the increase in tariffs, that is, these are not those who connected yesterday. These are quite normal measures in order to clear the database of those who use the operator’s services outside their region.

Eldar Murtazin advises Crimeans to apply to change the operator without changing the number and use local tariffs.

MORE ON THE TOPIC: “Canceling roaming is not beneficial for Aksenov and Polonsky”

Ukrainian telecommunications expert Roman Khimich believes that the abolition of intranet roaming in Russia has affected the increase in tariffs of mobile operators.

The policy of sanctions against Russian mobile operators has proven to be most successful in relation to Crimea

– In general, the policy of sanctions against Russian companies turned out to be most successful in relation to Crimea. None of the significant Russian operators that are traded on stock exchanges has risked openly conducting operations on the peninsula.

Therefore, services there are provided in networks of local companies, which were created, among other things, on the basis of equipment “squeezed out” from Ukrainian companies. Russian operators themselves provide them with roaming services.

They could go to Crimea, but for them sanctions pose a real threat... In general, the abolition of national roaming in Russia was not accompanied by the liquidation of these monopoly structures, interregional telephone companies that charged fees.

Russian operators are forced to do the splits: in some places they refuse to charge roaming fees, in others they disguise it. Still, they lost some money.

MORE ON THE TOPIC: “Patriotism is patriotism, but business is more important”

Ukrainian telecom expert, editor of the Internet resource g-news.com Sergey Gorbachevsky is confident that mobile operators will compensate for losses from the cancellation of roaming at the expense of subscribers.

Source: https://ru.krymr.com/amp/povyshenie-tarifov-posle-otmeny-rouminga-krym/30073624.html

The Big Four operators assessed their readiness to cancel roaming in Crimea

Representatives of the Big Four operators (VimpelCom (Beeline brand), MTS, Megafon and Tele2) told Izvestia whether they were ready to cancel national roaming, in particular in Crimea.

Earlier on April 24, the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia, Igor Artemyev, announced that national roaming in Crimea will be canceled after June 1, 2019. The law abolishing roaming in Russia was signed by the country's President Vladimir Putin in December last year.

Megafon reported that they have long been ready to cancel roaming. Moreover, this will not lead to an increase in prices for mobile communications, the company noted.

“On the contrary, Megafon always strives to give more to its friends. Therefore, from June 1, 2019, all incoming calls will cost 0 rubles/min. All other services will be charged in accordance with the tariff you choose and the connected options,” said Yuri Nekhaychuk, head of the press service of Megafon PJSC.

“For its successful solution, it is necessary to bring the conditions of Crimean operators into line with the commercial realities relevant for the rest of the Russian Federation,” said the Tele2 representative.

At the same time, she noted that special conditions apply to Tele2 customers in Crimea and Sevastopol - in particular, in 2018 the cost of incoming and outgoing calls, Internet traffic and SMS decreased. For example, the price of incoming calls has been reduced five times - to 1 ruble per minute.

“Tele2 subscribers can also receive incoming calls in Crimea and Sevastopol for free using the “Like Home on the Peninsula” service. The option is available to customers of all Tele2 tariff plans, including business subscribers. The service fee is 6 rubles per day,” concluded Kolesnikova.

• The head of the press service of VimpelCom (Beeline brand) Anna Aibasheva said that the company will need to reset incoming calls from June 1 due to the entry into force of changes to the Law “On Communications”.
• “In this regard, the most critical issue is reducing the interconnect rate, which also determines the formation of the cost of incoming roaming calls,” Aibasheva noted.
• MTS press secretary Alexey Merkutov said that the company intends to comply with current legislation.
• According to the head of the FAS, after the abolition of roaming, operators' income will only increase, because revenue from the increasing number of subscribers will increase.
• Earlier it became known that Crimea was visited by 6.8 million tourists in the 2018 holiday season, TASS reports.

Source: https://iz.ru/871985/2019-04-24/bolshaia-chetverka-operatorov-otcenila-gotovnost-k-otmene-rouminga-v-krymu