Since the beginning of the year and to "famous" the first of July cellular operators purposefully preparing for a new era of free incoming calls. The gradual reduction of tariffs has stopped, and in some cases even been a slight increase in costs. Expect to pay for outgoing calls from landline phones Sotovik did not get: the operators originally wanted to get about one and a half rubles per minute, and receive 95 cents. And with the first of July began a "massive attack" on the consumer to offset expected losses from the introduction of CPP. Compensatory measures are not conspicuous, but it worked quite effectively.
- The increase in price per minute of conversation - the lack of reduction of tariffs in relation to global trends in mobile communication can be regarded as a hidden price increase. In the cases known to lower the "old" tariff operators went on a direct increase in the price per minute or the imposition of license fee.
- Go to the per-minute instead of per second charging scheme in the second minute - weight gain to the income statements. Waiver of posekundki the second minute mean increased costs subscribers an average of 15-20%.
- Fixed dollar has been another means of compensation for damages from free incoming calls. According to the estimates of analysts, the introduction of a fixed exchange rate at around 7.28 brought MTS and Beeline additional 6-7% of income.
- Connection charge (CCD) as yet another price hike is not obvious. This ploy is fully managed to take advantage of MTS (tariff "First") and Beeline ("Simply put"), in the future set-up fee of 50 cents was added to most of the old tariff of MTS and Beeline and many popular tariffs MegaFon-Moscow. Subsequently, the operators of the CCD formally refused by renaming the fee for connection to the increase in the first minute.
- The growth of value added services or worsening of their parameters are also affected on the purse. For example, the MTS contract from July 50% discount on outgoing calls have become 25% and 50% for incoming - at 15% for outbound.In MegaFon-Moscow reduced the price of MMS-messages, and WAP-traffic (on 45 and 80 cents respectively) with a simultaneous rise in price of GPRS-Internet traffic by 65 kopecks. and introduced a rounding up to 100 KB.
- Improved roaming tariffs safely implement all the operators, although not simultaneously. Roaming rates have made "easier" by uniting the country into groups and assigning a uniform price for all foreign operators in the enlarged group.
Increased competition clearly seen in the mutual luring away each other's most profitable customers. Employees ring up Beeline MTS subscribers, offering them a "doubles" of their existing numbers MTS Beeline network. Doing the same in the MTS, where several thousand owners direct numbers have been reserved Beeline MTS "doubles" in the new DEF-code 919.
A peculiar new season - together, MTS and MGTS. Began with a call switching workers MGTS Moscow apartments offer a free set of RED, have recently begun the next phase: under the "Mobile home" subscribers of digital PBXs offer a mobile "understudy" in MTS. Plus the added bonus - a free call forwarding from your home phone to your cell. A tempting offer that is hard to refuse. At Beeline, seem to have decided to restrict joint action and an advertising campaign with a network connection salons Euroset - the tried and tested way to a sharp increase in sales contracts in the New Year's Eve. The totals of connections for the fourth quarter, we learn only in February, but there is no doubt an impressive increase in the number of "subscribers".
In connection with the sharp rise in the cost of interconnect Skylink completely overhauled its marketing strategy. The company intends to focus on promoting and selling new services based on fast mobile Internet. Possible assistance to a colleague "System" provides MTS, has recently launched the sale of modems and tariffs Skylink in their salons shops (former offices of MTS).
This year, all operators are actively engaged in updating their systems, packet data. MegaFon-Moscow has been reported about the full EDGE-coverage of Moscow and Moscow region, Beeline purposefully "paints» EDGE-coated all the new areas on the map, MTS signed a contract with Motorola for a complete "ezhevizatsiyu" the Moscow region. In light of the December distribution of licenses for 3G to provide a solid EDGE-coating acquires an additional meaning: no EDGE new third generation services will only work in areas covered by base stations of 3G.
The most notable (in the literal sense of the word) event of the year - which began in May, re-branding of the holding AFK Sistema. Financial results of the rebranding of MTS (capitalization growth companies) were more modest than the results of earlier re-branding of Beeline, MTS but the leadership considers them quite good. Anyway, people gradually got used to the new logo and almost stopped to joke on the theme of colorful eggs.
Expensive and widely publicized project i-mode in the course of this year quietly stagnated, although the official closing of the Japanese version of the wap-portal has not yet taken place, and the system operates. Apparently shut down next year. Indirect confirmation of the death of a close failure of the project - urgent sale through Euroset all unsold in warehouses party phones NEC-412i costs 2,990 rubles. These devices can be purchased at a shop on the MTS 9900 Rub. 05 kopecks - about three and a half times more expensive.
Universal transition to rubles including VAT is now really close and it's good: different currencies and systems of calculation greatly complicate the comparison of competing tariffs. For many of us do not understand denominated tariffs and unusual, but nothing can be done - sooner or later it's still supposed to happen.In the end, learned to read and compare in rubles, although the confusion is no more. As rightly wrote in news on the website of MTS: "Translation of tariffs in Russian rubles - is another step towards the possible simplification of customer service. Prices for services of MTS will be made in euro, including all taxes, and you will not need to perform complex calculations. Translation rates from conventional units (W. E.) in Russian rubles will be produced at the internal rate of 1 at. E. = 28.70 rub. Tariffs in rubles - that is understandable, easy and convenient. " It is a pity that it is not left on the site of previous versions of the dollar rates, at least for reference. And that in fact if we take the famous "3 cents" in the tariff RED (remember billboards?) And moved into U.S. Dollars at the rate of 28.70, we get 1.016 USD. per minute. But today's ruble price on the site - 1.15 rubles. But let us not quarrel, penny certainly rounded for ease of perception, and 13% - not a big price increase. We must also remove at least some profit from the conversion of rubles, and the MTS in this quest are not alone: for example, SMS-messages in the new ruble-denominated tariffs Beeline rose by 23 cent even with the tricky "internal rate of the company."
This past year we have seen many more interesting things. Like mushrooms after rain, everywhere grows machines terminals for receiving money for mobile services. Thanks to the convenience and its "close proximity" of these devices are beginning to seriously compete with other payment points. According to analysts, the rapid growth of this market sector, not least related to the conversion of an enterprise have been previously released torrent. In the same year some of us first encountered viruses for smartphones - here you can certainly say that the most interesting is yet to come. It remains to wish all good holidays, happy New Year and good communication in the New Year's Eve.