Long gone are the days when working in another country phone caused surprise and delight. Today, almost all successfully learned the hard imported the word "roaming", and take your phone away from home is perceived as a given. But not everyone knows that the roaming service to connect. At least some of the operators and / or on certain tariffs. MTS roaming must be connected in any case, this requires to visit the office and leave her there another photocopy of your passport with your application. The only exception - old subscribers with a good history of paying bills, such people are now receiving from MTS SMS-ki with a proposal to connect a roaming without a visit to the office. In MegaFon roaming must be connected to the contract rates, Light fares do not require a connection, but served only operators with Camel-platform and online-billing. In Beeline roaming is desirable to connect, but can do without it: the prepaid-roaming tariffs, full-connects automatically with a balance of more than 1500 rubles. ($ 50), at rates of postpaid (credit) in addition to the presence of 1500 rubles. on the account you would type USSD-command * 110 * 131 #. Camel-roaming available in the prepaid-pricing for any positive balance.
Romer - the favorite cash cow of the operator
In a highly competitive Sotovik have gradually reduce tariffs on the domestic market. Reduce the cost of a minute, offer various discounts and bonuses, give free SMS, etc. All these multiple pricing "favors" plus marketing campaign can attract new subscribers voiced commercials, established in the market and show good statistics connections. However, to earn money, too, need, and better do it in ways not evident and have little impact on sales. Therefore, step aside from the native home network, sometimes fraught with serious financial losses for subscribers: start to operate those same notes in small print under the stars at the descriptions of the tariffs, which few people read when they connect. However, even a thoughtful study of the fine print does not always help and not to all.Roaming can be different: Intranet, national and international. A call from Moscow SIM-card from Tver - also roaming, even though the intra. Before the trip it makes sense to carefully examine roaming rates for the operator's website, for may be surprises. Sometimes enjoyable, often the opposite. For example, the Beeline roaming in the surrounding regions in addition to your home is not (your home fare), the MTS calls to other operators in national roaming will be several times more expensive than calls to phones of MTS and MGTS and so on. Words "on home prices" are also not without a few tricks, because assume the full cost of minutes without the usual discounts. Trifle? Watching what is considered a discount and how to interpret the words "your home tariff."Paying per minute a few times more, we are willy-nilly, we estimate the wording and perhaps even begin to delve into the notes.
In the description of the tariff plan: "All local outgoing calls after 6 minutes per day - 0,25 rub. Price is valid for 30.09.2007 when connecting and passing on the tariff "Free" (activation kit "Free") to 01.07.2007 From 01.10.2007, as well as connecting and switching on the tariff "Free" after 30.06 .2007 city - 0,50 rub. per minute.. " 25 or 50 (1 July) cents, even after 6 minutes of calls a day - a good figure, try to remember it. Consider the rates for intra-network roaming in Central and Central Chernozem Region: Challenges to the phones throughout the MTS of Russia, <...> calls to MGTS phones - your home tariff. " Rejoice? Not yet. Read the fine print:
"Home" rate - your rate for telecommunications services while in Moscow and Moscow region, namely in the direction of the call during the day in accordance with the tariff plan for a full minute for calls to MTS - in "Outgoing calls to mobile Phones MTS Russia ", when sending SMS - in" Outgoing SMS to other mobile phone operators, excluding discounts, operating under stocks, 15% and 25% discount on calls, prices for telecommunication services while in the tariff zone " area ", as well as other services that lower rate, unless otherwise indicated in the tariff plan."
All clear? Just in case, for those who did not see the difference: after the exit from the Moscow region "home rate" with calls and 25 cents into a "home rate" with calls for 5 rubles. And what about 25 cents on billboards? Yes way: apparently, 25 cents is not a home tariff, and a special service or discount is acting within the campaign. " And try to prove otherwise. However, the rise in price by 20 times - is not the limit, because only applies to intra-call (on the MTS and MGTS). Calls to other operators, will cost more, namely, 18.21 rub. per minute - Read the rest of deciphering the fine print on the link. Rightly so, because out of every subscriber received from 18.21 rubles. companies have to pay 1.15 USD. for the interconnect.
Summary
The most common figures of prices for intra-network roaming for MegaFon-Moscow: in the Moscow region, all outgoing and incoming calls to any fixed / mobile networks, Russia - RUB 9. per minute. It is easy to remember and do not need to think about anything but free incoming only within the Moscow region. The most competitive prices for Beeline: all the same, but for 8.95 rubles. per minute. Plus one big advantage: a home fare ("real" home with all the discounts, free incoming and billing features) operates throughout the macro region, ie in the case of the Moscow region and operates in neighboring areas. In the MTS is complex, but you can understand: free incoming distributed in Central and Central Black Earth regions, originating in the MTS and MGTS in these areas - home rate without any discounts, special rates for calls within the tariff and other "taste enhancers. To the cost calling minutes to other mobile operators added from 9.83 to 13.21 rubles, depending on the tariff. Intra-network roaming in other areas - incoming calls at the local rate of outgoing plus £ 03.05. Coming to MTS and MGTS - home fare without the "improvers" plus 03.05 USD., For calls to other mobile operators - the same additional 9.83-13.21. Intra-network roaming in MTS is really good for calls to MTS phones (preferably with a suitable rate such as RED or Jeans-007), as well as good for calls to MGTS.MegaFon-Moscow is not pleased with pay outside the surrounding area, Beeline, in this case did not seem to swear for nothing.Expensive "abroad"
With prices for international roaming difficult, as pricing depends on the roaming pit. A partner is not very prone to lose their legitimate profits from visitors from other countries. A separate theme - European operators, which will soon be deprived of a heavy part of their income: as you know, the European Parliament approved by a majority vote of the sharp decline in prices for roaming within the EEC. Today the minute price for traveling through Europe comes to a few euros, and in 2008 the cost of outgoing roaming call is 46 cents, included - 22 cents. A year later - 43 and 19 cents respectively. Compensate the received profit European operators are going to including at our expense, so hoped to reduce roaming rates is not necessary. According to Oksana Belyaeva, Marketing Director of Business Segment and roaming in VimpelCom, the European inter-operator tariffs for Beeline have already risen on average by 20% and continue to grow, and the same probably applies to other national operators. Whether the rise in connection with the retail price - it's hard to tell, since the cost of roaming minutes laid a price "safety margin".As we know, all operators of the "Big Three" have already passed to the principle of zonal pricing of calls while roaming: prices become simpler, it is easier to grasp and often harder for the purse. While in some cases we'll even benefit from the consolidation of such fees: for example, in France Beeline operates with a minimal profit margin (less than 10%), and calls to travel to Australia and did subsidizes. The main advantage for us - no longer need to learn a list of operators before each ride and then tormenting phone manual selection of "cheap" network. Now switch between different operators does not make sense, cost of services does not change. However, no change for us, but our home operator is interested in servicing its customers with a specific roaming partner. According to the representative of the Beeline, inter-operator tariffs in one country can vary widely, up to twice the difference in price. It is generally accepted that the phone is in roaming network chooses the best signal, but it is not so. In addition to the traditional list of priority networks, there are more modern ways of "persuading" the device to connect to a specific network, Russian operators use these technologies for the second year. Among the other configurable options - timeout signal appears "correct" network. At a press conference Beeline voiced phrase "for example, 5 minutes, but the duration of the pause - entirely on the conscience of our home network. In other words, left the service area, we can enjoy a long inscription "Network Search" on the screen, cursing the wicked GSM-coverage in the country and not knowing about the presence in this place on other networks. Of course, nobody forbids to choose a workable network manually, but most of us even think of not coming to do this. For a number of times this summer in such a situation often fall Romer Russian in Ukraine, will rest in the Crimea - check and write us about the results.
Roaming tariffs and summer discounts we discussed here, including some expressed surprise at the 50 per cent discount on calls to Beeline some "spa" countries. As we explained Oksana Belyaeva, we are not talking about some "super profits" in the rest of the year, just for the summer holidays the company offers discounts of marketing reasons, often subsidizing calls by roamers in other countries. It is difficult to say whether this practice will continue next year amid growing inter-operator tariffs.
A separate question - providing mobile communication passenger aircraft. The Norwegian company Aeromobile to be launched this service last fall, but the certification process was delayed, and earlier this fall to speak with your mobile phone on board we can not. However, the very fact that these studies suggest that modern navigation equipment is not so much exposed to harmful radiation handsets.
Where and when the balance disappears
Exhaustion of balance and blocking the phone is always unpleasantly, but roaming is doubly unpleasant. The problem is that the phone sometimes flatly refuses to register a foreign network even after refill. In this case, it is enough to turn off and turn the phone on, if not help - temporarily rearrange the SIM-card in another machine. Maintenance of balance in a deep red with the phone lock - the usual story for roaming, but it is not only in expensive minutes.
Interconnect tariffs, especially tariff determined by the contract, specific numbers, of course, open access does not fall. Some speculate that the bill for calls while roaming exhibits guest operator, it is not. Guest operator transmits only informed about the call or session data, performs billing billing home operator. For example, all calls in roaming are charged per minute for us, but at the same time, operators can display each other accounts with one-second rounding.