Word "roaming" has roots from English. "roaming"- to wander, and this definition accurately reflects the essence of this function. We all travel around the country and abroad, and need to be in touch with family and friends.

And in order to fully communicate, all networks must be interconnected by certain standards. Thanks to these standards - the current CDMA or GSM switching centers - information about the location of the network user is transmitted through communication channels.

What is roaming for mobile operators?

Roaming mobile operators implies that your “home network” provides you with communication beyond its boundaries by concluding an agreement with a “guest network”. That is, the subscriber moves, and data about his movement is requested by another cellular network from his operator. After this, the user’s data is automatically transferred to his location, for his full connection with the desired number.

An agreement between your mobile operator and another network allows the subscriber to keep his phone number in another city, region, or country. There are three types of roaming: intranet, international, national.

What is intranet roaming ?

Within our country, there is so-called intranet roaming, which allows you to use your chosen network in any region at reduced rates. The intranet roaming service is activated in automatic mode, V personal account, as well as by contacting your post office, or by dialing a certain combination.

This service is paid, in accordance with the Law “On Communications” in force in our country. The fact is that the size of our state is enormous, and servicing such an area is very expensive. The user pays for “traffic transmission” in each communication center, hence the subscription fee. However, on this moment Each operator MTS, Beeline, Megafon and TELE2 has profitable offer via intranet roaming.

What is international roaming ?

When traveling outside our state, we also want to use our phone number, and this service is provided under an agreement between our operator and a foreign provider. Thanks to globalization cellular communications, our compatriots use international roaming in more than two hundred countries, and roaming agreements have been concluded between five hundred operators around the world.

But when planning to use this type of roaming, you should take into account some nuances. Communication centers use different frequencies, which some phones do not support. You also need to know that write-off subscription fee for international roaming there is a delay of up to 36 days.

What is data roaming ?

Your mobile phone data is your daily Internet activity on your phone: viewing email, communicating online. Otherwise, this service is commonly called “mobile Internet”. And in order not to be shocked when moving from your network zone with bills for Internet use, you need to switch to the “data roaming” option.

To do this, find the line “mobile Internet” in your phone and activate the service called “data transfer while roaming”. The service will naturally be paid, but will bring much less costs than not connecting it.

What is roaming in simple words?

For those who have little understanding of the complex cellular communications system, we can give a simple definition of the concept of “roaming.” Speaking in simple language, roaming allows an ordinary person to use his own type of communication and his SIM card in any corner of the globe.

And if your network does not function in the area where you are located, then another connection is automatically provided to you under an agreement with yours. Moreover, if there are several cooperating networks in this location, then the network with the best signal is selected.

Our century is the century mobile communications and total communication between people, countries, continents. Traveling is becoming more commonplace, but so is cellular communication in every region of the world. Roaming is something that any owner of a mobile phone and an active user of cellular communications will encounter. Let's understand it in a simple way, without complex terms and diagrams.

Roaming from mobile operators

Mobile telephone networks can be divided into “home” and “guest” networks. The SIM card you purchased in your region connects to home network, but when you travel outside the region, it starts working from the “guest” network. What should I do? Is this fraught with overpayment? In no case if the “home” network has entered into an agreement with the “guest” network. All client information is transferred between networks and the client can make calls based on your tariff plan in any region of the Russian Federation.

Essentially, roaming is an ability or service that allows any user to keep his number in any region of his country or world where a cellular operator operates.

There are three types of roaming: intranet, international and data roaming. Let's get acquainted with each of them.

Roaming within the network

From the name itself it is clear that this type of roaming operates only within the country, in our case - within Russian Federation. This allows the client to use mobile communications in accordance with the tariffs and prices of their operator in all regions from Kaliningrad to Sakhalin.

The service can be activated in the following ways:

• Connects automatically the moment you cross the border of your region;
• When contacting a mobile phone store directly;
• Via USSD – request by sending a short SMS;
• Through the SIM card menu or by calling the telecom operator's office.

According to the Law “On Communications” within the Russian Federation, the roaming service within the network is paid and is paid for by withdrawing funds from the phone balance. Each crossing of the region is recorded and a subscription fee invoice is generated. It is worth noting that all major mobile operators provide customers with bonuses, discounts and various favorable offers for the use of roaming.

International roaming

Similar to intranet roaming, an agreement takes place, but in in this case between domestic operator and a foreign operator or provider. This agreement satisfies the client’s desire to communicate via mobile phone outside the Russian Federation as well as within it. More than 500 operators around the world have mutual agreements and obligations, and our compatriots can use roaming in 210 countries.

Using of this roaming It is necessary to remember some characteristic points:

• Communicators and cellular communication centers use a variety of frequency bands, which may not be supported by some phone models (relevant for North Korea and China);
• Funds for international roaming are not written off immediately; a delay of up to 1 month is possible.

data roaming

Phone data is a “quick information” cache and all data from browsing web pages from a phone (smartphone, communicator, etc.). To put it simply, this is the most typical mobile Internet. And data roaming is a remedy for the shock of huge bills that will follow if you do not enable the “data roaming” service abroad.

The service is activated independently. You need to go to the settings of your smartphone and find the tab there - “Mobile Internet”, there we look for information about roaming and put the checkboxes in the required position (for Android). However, application help will help you understand this much more effectively.

How it works?

Roaming only works if operators enter into mutual agreements with each other. This leads to a general globalization of communications around the world, mitigating communication and communications barriers.

Roaming work can be divided to the next successive stages:

1. The phone, through the operator, tries to connect to its native “home” network;
2. If the phone cannot “connect”, then it starts automatic search networks with the best signal;
3. If a network is found, a connection is made to it;
4. The new network is connected to the “home” one, and information and connection protocol are transferred;
5. All conditions are met and the phone is transferred to the “guest” network of its operator.

It is best to configure your smartphone to automatically search for available networks, this is will allow you to always be in touch. And the cost issue is so minimal that it is not worth the attention. Roaming - convenience and reliability of communication in any corner of your country and the world.

Towards the abolition of intranet roaming. It is planned that MTS will do the same from August 30, Megafon - from September 1. The operator Tele2 (“Tele2”) plans to complete this work by August 31.

The TASS-DOSSIER editors have prepared material about the history of this issue and international experience.

Definition, history

Intranet roaming is the provision of communication services by an operator to subscribers outside their “home” region for an additional fee. National (or inter-network) roaming operates when the operator does not have its own network in the “guest” region (or area), and the subscriber automatically connects to the network of another operator with which an appropriate agreement has been concluded.

Charging fees for national and intranet roaming (as a rule, with exceptions for neighboring regions of the Federation) has been practiced in Russia since the very beginning of the development of cellular networks. This was due to the large territory of the country and the high cost of deploying telecommunications networks. MTS, Megafon and VimpelCom provide services in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, with the exception of Crimea and Sevastopol. Tele2 provides services in 65 regions of Russia; the operator also does not work in Crimea and Sevastopol. The Crimean Peninsula has its own operators, with which the Big Four companies have roaming agreements.

Currently in Russia only national roaming in case of emergency situations (for example, if there is an accident on the network of one company, its subscribers can use the services of another network without additional payment).

Over the past 10 years, the cost of intranet roaming in Russia has remained almost unchanged, although some operators have begun to eliminate fees for incoming calls in “guest” regions. However, during this time, tariffs with subscription fee and included options for traveling around the country.

In the summer of 2017, on-network roaming fees were charged in varying amounts by all Big Four operators. Without additional options For free or cheap calls to other regions, operators charged from 5 rubles for these services. (Tele2) up to 10.9 rub. (MTS) per minute. By mid-August 2018, operators had begun the process of eliminating this practice. In particular, on the current line of Tele2 tariffs, intranet roaming is free.

Cancellation plans

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation (FAS) became interested in the issues of high roaming tariffs in 2010. In its year-end report, the department admitted that operators " big three"(at that time - Beeline, Megafon and MTS) "established and maintained high monopoly prices for communication services in roaming" (including national). Then the department managed to achieve a reduction in prices only for services in international roaming.

At the end of 2012, the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media introduced amendments to the Law “On Communications” to the State Duma, which provided for the abolition of intranet and national roaming. The bill required major modifications and was not considered even in the first reading.

On June 23, 2017, after the abolition of intranet roaming in the EU, the head of the FAS, Igor Artemyev, announced that he would seek the abolition of roaming within Russia.

The case of intranet roaming

On July 17, 2017, the Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a warning to the Big Four operators, requiring them to change tariffs for travel communication services within 14 days, eliminating unreasonable price differences. The FAS has established that charging additional funds for communication services when traveling within the country has no economic or technological justification. Representatives of the Big Four then spoke out sharply against the FAS claims, calling the requirements to cancel roaming within 14 days impracticable.

As a result, consideration of cases and negotiations on intranet roaming were delayed. At the end of 2017, the FAS dropped claims regarding intranet roaming from Tele2 after the introduction of a new tariff line, but on March 5, 2018, it opened cases against the remaining operators. Their consideration was completed only in the summer of 2018. On August 7, operators presented a schedule for canceling roaming; on August 8, the FAS announced that all operators, with the exception of Tele2, will have to pay a fine for violating the regulations. According to the law, its size (up to 500 thousand rubles) will be determined at the end of August.

The case of national roaming

On August 3, 2017, the FAS opened cases under paragraph 1 of part 1 of Article 10 of the Law “On Protection of Competition” against the Big Four operators, revealing the maintenance of “monopoly high prices (tariffs) for communication services in national roaming and when concluding national inter-operator roaming agreements on the territory of the Russian Federation." By the spring of 2018, the Big Three operators, according to the FAS, had eliminated the violations and the cases were completed. However, Tele2, which did not have a network in 20 Russian regions, must eliminate the comments before the beginning of autumn 2018.

Bill

On July 10, 2018, the State Duma unanimously adopted in the first reading a bill to abolish roaming in Russia. It was submitted to the chamber for consideration in June 2017 by deputies from A Just Russia, led by faction leader Sergei Mironov.

Foreign experience

China

National roaming in China was canceled in October 2017. According to Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang, this decision was made for the sake of “the development of national Internet technologies.”

In the US, the mobile communications market is highly fragmented. Due to the peculiarities of the development of mobile communications, there was no concept of intra-network roaming, but inter-network roaming was actively developing. There are over 75 mobile operators on the market (the largest are AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint), none of which have national coverage. National roaming rules were introduced in 2007 for voice calls and in 2011 for data.

Currently, in the United States, almost all cellular operators do not charge additional fees for calls in on-net and national roaming. However, there are more stringent restrictions on data transfer. For example, the T-Mobile operator for unlimited tariffs allows the transfer of only 50 megabytes of data per month when connecting to the network of other operators.

Canada

In Canada, the practice of charging for national roaming was abolished by the country's parliament in February 2014. By February 2015, all national operators entered into agreements with each other to abolish roaming; currently, all major operators have tariffs that do not provide for additional fees for communications when traveling around the country.

European Union

Until 2017, national operators of the European Union countries charged additional fees for roaming within the union. Plans to abolish this order emerged in 2004. First tariffs from free roaming within the EU began to appear in 2013-2014. The law abolishing roaming within the EU, as well as with Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland, was adopted by the European Parliament on October 27, 2015. It came into force on June 15, 2017.

Roaming in GSM networks

I think that for most of us the concept of “roaming” is inextricably linked with GSM. Why is that? Indeed, in D-AMPS and NMT - the two most common standards of personal cellular communications at the time of the beginning of the spread of GSM - roaming is also available, and no less automatic. Apparently, the reason is that these two standards had (and have) a narrow regional specialization. NMT is Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the states of the former USSR, especially Russia. D-AMPS is most common in America, and, again, in Russia and the CIS countries. That is, a European could not even dream of coming, say, to the USA with his own phone.

However, GSM, even before it appeared, began to rapidly spread across the planet. To date, all continents (with the exception of Antarctica) are entangled in networks of this standard, albeit to varying degrees. The highest coverage density, as one would expect, is in the homeland of GSM - Europe. While networks are poorly developed in America, especially in the South, and completely absent in Japan and Korea, they rely on completely different standards. You will be surprised, but there is a GSM network even on the largest island in the world - Greenland, which is almost completely covered with ice. To summarize, we can say that GSM lives up to its name - "Global System for Mobile communications".

How it works?

Automatic roaming is one of the key capabilities, which was originally laid down during development GSM standard, and the purely technical side of the issue is discussed in the article “GSM Networks. A Look from the Inside,” so further we will talk about, so to speak, the “user side of the issue.” But let’s agree on two terms in advance: the “home” network will be the network of the operator with whom the subscriber has an agreement, and the “guest” network will be any other network in which he is currently registered.

When roaming, incoming calls are redirected from the “home” to the “guest” network, outgoing calls are made in the “guest” network - therefore, there is a need for financial settlements and information exchange between companies. Therefore, before opening roaming, a roaming agreement is concluded between two operators - an agreement regulating the procedure for mutual settlements, as well as tariffs for services. Without such an agreement, roaming will not work in this network. You can find out about the possibility of using your phone in a particular country (or a specific network) from your operator (or on its web page).

Dialing rules may vary between networks, but the full dialing format will always work: [+] [Country code] [City code] [Subscriber number]. If in doubt, you can safely dial the number this way. It makes sense and the numbers in notebook storing in this format will not be superfluous, but for sending SMS number this is how you need to enter it.

Network selection

Being within the coverage area of ​​your “home” operator, you do not need to worry about choosing a network: everything happens automatically. In principle, registration in a “guest” network can occur without human intervention, but often this may not be possible. the best option. As a rule, there will be several networks to choose from, and their coverage areas and service tariffs can vary greatly. From this point of view, there is some advantage compared to the “native” subscribers of “guest” networks: if there are two operators in the country, then where there is no coverage of one of them, the other can work, and you will stay in touch. (Until recently, on the website of the MTS company, whose subscribers were spoiled by the monopoly of their operator in GSM-900, the instructions for roamers emphasized that “as a rule, in other countries several different networks". This remark has now been removed.)

There are two main modes for registering a phone on the network: manual And auto. At automatic mode, the network with the maximum currently measured signal level is selected, but only from those that allow you access. So, in Austria there are 4 GSM networks, but with one of them - Tele.ring - neither BeeLine nor MTS has a roaming agreement yet (12/11/2000), therefore, even with the maximum signal level, it will not be a candidate for registration. At manual mode, a search will first be made and a list of networks will be displayed, asking you to select one of them. There is (for example, in Motorola and Siemens phones) the so-called Preferred Networks List. You can enter several network codes into it and set priorities (for example, the operator with the most favorable tariffs put in first place) - and then when registering, it is the position in the list, and not the signal level, that will play a role (of course, the choice will occur only among the found networks). However, it should be remembered that after successful registration the device will stop searching, and even if a network signal with a higher priority appears again, automatic re-registration will not occur.

Concluding the story about choosing a network when roaming, I would like to tell you about a funny situation that happened to me in September of this year. Europe is not that big, and there are many places on the continent where the borders of several states meet. In this case, instead of 2-4 networks (average number different operators connections in European countries) you can find several times more of them. In one of these places - Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, located literally a few kilometers from the borders with Hungary and Austria, my telephone found 9 networks! 2 of them were directly Slovak, 3 were Hungarian, and 4 were Austrian. Moreover, the signal level of 6 out of 9 allowed me to register with them (the 7th is the Austrian Tele.ring already mentioned above, with which a roaming agreement has not yet been concluded; as luck would have it, its signal was maximum). I chose the Hungarian Vodafone network because its tariffs are the cheapest, and I spent more than half as much money on calls to Moscow as if I had used Slovak operators. But another thing is also interesting: in order not to lose the “battle for roamers” in such a situation, Slovak networks are forced to maintain high signal levels, for which antennas are hung literally at the level of the second floors of buildings.

Tariffing of calls when roaming

For a caller calling a roamer, the tariff does not change: that is, if the subscriber number is Moscow, then the call will remain a “call to Moscow”. But for the subscriber cellular network everything will be different. Since the call is transferred to another country (another city), an international (long-distance) connection arises, which is paid for by the subscriber (naturally, on-network discounts and free incoming calls from cell phones no longer apply here). In addition, the guest network operator also bills for its services. Thus, the cost of a roaming call (no matter incoming or outgoing) is calculated by complex formula, which in the most general case looks like this:

Price = services of the "guest" network + taxes of the country of the "guest" network + operator fee of the "home" network + rerouting + [Russian taxes]

The first two terms are the amounts that are paid to the “guest” network operator. The “home” network operator fee is your operator’s commission for making payments; as a rule, it is 10-15% of the requested amounts. Rerouting makes sense only for incoming calls; it is a fee charged by the “home” operator for redirecting a call to the “guest” network, equal to the cost of an international call to this country/city.

At incoming In calls, as a rule, only the cost of rerouting is withheld, and, as follows from the meaning of this operation, it is the “home” operator who keeps the records. In this case, the cost of the call is immediately credited to your account or debited from your balance (depending on the payment method).

The vast majority of GSM operators in the world do not charge any additional fees for incoming roaming calls. However, a number of them, which we will call conditionally “greedy,” charge an additional fee for each incoming call. In this case, this amount will be included in the cost of the call as a “guest” network service, along with local taxes and operator fees withheld from it.

The amount of payment varies, and sometimes can even exceed the direct long-distance component - the rerouting fee! Table 1 shows a list of Russian "greedy" operators. For example, SMARTS and URALTEL charge an additional amount on average 1.5 times the cost long distance call in Russia (45-55 cents).

Operator	Network code	Beeline collection	Collection at MTS	Note
Ulyanovsk-GSM	250-07	0,87	0,85
Astrakhan GSM-900	250-07	0,78	0,78	Coordinating operator - SMARTS
Uraltel	250-39	0,77	0,77
South Ural Cellular	250-39	0,77	0,77
Uralsvyazinform	250-39	0,77	0,77	Coordinating operator - Uraltel
Shupashkar-GSM	250-07	0,72	0,70	Coordinating operator - SMARTS
Yaroslavl-GSM	250-01	0,70	0,00	Intranet roaming MTS
Penza - GSM	250-07	0,68	0,67	Coordinating operator - SMARTS
Orenburg GSM	250-07	0,65	0,63	Coordinating operator - SMARTS
SMARTS	250-07	0,64	0,00
Ivanovo-GSM		0,64	-
Volgograd GSM	250-07	0,63	0,61	Coordinating operator - SMARTS
New telephone company	250-16	0,53	0,53
Extel GSM	250-28	0,48	0,48
Ermak RMS	250-17	0,48	0,47
Mobile communication systems	250-05	0,46	0,46
StavTeleSot	250-44	0,42	0,40
North Caucasus GSM	250-44	0,42	0,40	Coordinating operator - StavTeleSot
North-West GSM	250-02	0,40	0,40
BM-Telecom	250-07	0,38	0,37	Coordinating operator - SMARTS

Table 1: data is given as of November 12, 2000 using information from the BeeLine and MTS websites. Prices do not include VAT* and sales tax, but include operator commission. The author is not responsible for the accuracy of information about tariffs disseminated by operators.
* BeeLine does not impose VAT on payments to the “guest” network operator

Outgoing calls, on the other hand, are only counted by the "guest" network operator, and your operator will know about them after the fact. IN currently systems for exchanging information about made calls in real time are not developed, so bills for roaming sessions are received with some frequency, for example, once a week. And there may be situations when you have already returned home, taken the details (or invoice), and the calls made are not yet reflected in it.

It is because of the delay in billing that operators take precautions to avoid unpleasant situations. In BeeLine, which uses a credit payment system, to use international roaming (and international access) an additional deposit is required. And in MTS, where services are provided on a prepaid basis, you need to personally come to the company’s office with a passport and fill out the appropriate application form.

In the case of outgoing calls, the cost consists of payment to the “guest” network operator, taxes of his country and the operator’s fee of the “home” network operator. Some foreign operators offer, to save money, to make calls via the Internet, while the procedure itself is extremely simple: instead of [+] - intercity access - you need to dial a short prefix, and then the number as usual. However, there is no general approach here yet, so in each case the recruitment procedure and the possibility of providing this service will have to be clarified individually.

Short messages (SMS)

Almost everything existing networks GSM supports reception and transmission of short text messages(SMS). At the same time, while roaming, you do not need to make any changes to your phone settings. Incoming messages are free (by at least, I don’t know of a single counter-example), and outgoing calls are paid at the rates of the “guest” network, and the calculation is identical to outgoing calls. In extremely rare cases, outgoing SMS is also free, but be careful: the author of these lines spent several more money than planned, due to the fact that the cost of sending was incorrectly indicated on the BeeLine GSM website short message on the Vodafone network in Hungary - $0, but in reality it is $0.14 (according to the company's latest printed information).

The cost of each sent message will not change if you try to use another SMS center, since it is the fact of sending that is charged.

It is impossible not to mention such a frequently arising question as sending SMS to other networks. For this to be possible, it is sufficient to have a roaming agreement between your operator and the operator of this network. (I would like to note that this does not have to be full-fledged roaming. Thus, subscribers of different mobile networks in Germany and the UK have the opportunity to exchange SMS. However, our BeeLine and MTS will not agree on this in any way, and subscribers have to look for workarounds)

"Underwater rocks"

The main feature of roaming - that all incoming calls become long-distance/international for you - is known to everyone, and operator companies openly warn us about it. However, there are some points that are sometimes kept silent.

Free thresholds, accepted in the “guest” network, may differ from those in effect on the “home” network, or be absent altogether. In the latter case, for example, outgoing calls forwarded to voicemail, will be counted even if the connection lasted 1 second. When making an incoming call, for the international component, free thresholds of the “home” network will apply (8 seconds inclusive in BeeLine, and 4 seconds inclusive in MTS). However, if a greedy operator is used, the additional fee it charges may include other non-chargeable intervals. Situations are possible when only the “guest” network will take money for a short incoming call, or vice versa - only the “home” operator. Before the trip, it is better to find out all the details from your operator, but more on that a little further.

Seemingly harmless redirection to voicemail (or any other number) can also cause unexpected roaming charges. Moreover, only redirects to "busy" or no response and - potentially - due to unavailability. With the first case, everything is more or less clear - call already redirected to the "guest" network. Forwarding, say, to voice mail, will happen from there, and will be paid at the rate of “call to home network,” that is, “call to Moscow.” But redirection due to unavailability can occur in two cases. If you turn off your phone while in the zone network actions, then the standard logout procedure will occur, the link to the “guest” network will be deleted, and redirection will occur on the “home” operator’s switch via its current tariffs. But if you disappear from the network coverage area, for example, going down the subway, driving into a tunnel, or the phone turns off unexpectedly, then for the “home” network the subscriber will still remain registered in the “guest” network, and in case of a call, the search will be made there. And since the device will not answer, the same thing will happen as in the case of forwarding due to lack of answer - the call will be charged at the “call to Moscow” tariff. Hence the recommendation: if you are afraid of such unexpected costs, then disable forwarding altogether, or be careful when entering potential areas of uncertain reception.

On-net calls, as a rule, are very cheap; on the contrary, a call to a subscriber of another mobile network in the same country can be even more expensive than a call to a network subscriber common use. If you plan to make a lot of calls mobile subscribers, this should be taken into account when choosing a network.

Call between two subscribers, simultaneously roaming, will be international/long-distance for both, even if they are subscribers of the same “home” network.

Further comments will apply to the two Moscow operators operating in the GSM standard, since they serve the vast majority of subscribers in Russia. However, some of what has been said may also be relevant for subscribers of regional operators.

Information policy of BeeLine and MTS

As you already understand, roaming tariffs and calculations depend on many factors, and therefore it is especially important to have the most complete and accurate information possible about all conditions. However, here the policies of BeeLine and MTS companies radically diverge.

BeeLine provides on its website as well as in the brochure " International roaming"(available at company offices) only maximum tariffs to local and international calls(including a call to Moscow). The same applies to national roaming tariffs. At the same time, there is a complete lack of information even about the availability of preferential tariffs, not to mention the magnitude and duration of validity. There is also no information about the duration of non-tariff thresholds for calls. There is no information about the coordinates of the operators (phone number, web page address). The company's policy obviously implies that subscribers must personally come or call the Subscriber Service for this information, occupied with operators with questions that could be resolved more simply. Moreover, the provided Subscriber service the information is often not true. In response to sent by e-mail question, I received an answer that did not contain a single correct provision regarding tariffs in the Kuban-GSM network.

Company MTS, on the contrary, strives on the website to provide as much as possible more information. This is not only the size and duration of preferential tariffs, the duration of non-tariffed intervals, but also the full coordinates of operator companies (address, telephone, web page), digital code networks, options for spelling the name on the phone display depending on the manufacturer and model. All you need to be completely happy is a coverage map!

But I would like to note that the conditions put forward by “guest” operators for others are, as a rule, the same. That is, if the MTS website states that, for example, the Kuban-GSM network has a 10-second non-chargeable interval for outgoing calls, then for a BeeLine subscriber located in this network, the same condition will most likely be met. Therefore for additional information BeeLine subscribers can visit the MTS website for information on roaming conditions. Of course, the absolute values ​​of tariffs will vary, but you can find out a lot of useful information: the availability of preferential tariffs, their duration, non-tariff thresholds, background information.

In order to see the coverage map, you can, of course, try visiting the website of the “guest” network operator. However, the problem is that most of them are presented in the national language, and the English version is difficult to find, sometimes it simply does not exist. You can, of course, try to “guess”, but if this works with Czech, then what about, say, Finnish? If you know even a little English language, then this will be enough to understand the structure of providing information on the coverage of almost all GSM operators in the world, presented on the World GSM Association website, in the Roaming section. Just select the country, operator, and then - the “coverage” section. Done - although not very detailed, but quite informative, the map is at your service.

Intranet roaming

Generally speaking, so-called “intranetwork” roaming is an anachronism, a purely Russian invention. There is no analogue to such a phenomenon anywhere in the world. MTS, however, makes an excuse that it operates its own switches in such regions, but in Moscow alone there are already four of them!

MTS and BeeLine call “intranetwork roaming” the work of their own subscribers in own networks, but geographically located in other regions of the country (which, however, may directly border the Moscow region). And although the name of your network is displayed on the phone’s display, it is roaming that takes place here, with all the ensuing consequences described above. Tariffs for such roaming in both companies, oddly enough, are the same: $0.39/$0.29 for incoming/outgoing local and on-net calls.

Or rather, almost identical. Despite the announced tariffs, BeeLine in its only regional network so far outgoing call BeeLine charged a cell phone as a “call to Moscow.” Now, according to the company's personnel, the error should be corrected, but - as they say - an unpleasant aftertaste remains. Moreover, almost six months have passed since the opening of the network in Voronezh.

Development prospects

Roaming, without a doubt, offers great opportunities for communication wherever you are. The avalanche-like development of GSM networks (and not only) can be considered one of probable causes system failures satellite communications Iridium: there are fewer and fewer populated areas where there is no network of some kind. And communication “in the middle of nowhere” is needed by a very limited circle of people.

On the other hand, there are places where networks of other standards are developed, but there is no GSM at all. The most striking example is Japan and South America. What should I do? To this end, the World GSM Association organized the GSM Global Roaming Forum, the purpose of which is to develop standards for roaming between GSM networks and other network technologies: CDMA, TDMA and iDEN. The fruits of such activities are already visible: BeeLine recently entered into a roaming agreement with the iDEN standard operator Nextel. The company's subscribers were able to use their numbers in Argentina and Peru, where there are no GSM networks yet.

To others important issue is roaming for subscribers of prepaid systems such as Bi+ or TAXAfon. In fact, “one-way” roaming technology has been used in this area for a long time - it is only possible to receive calls and receive SMS. As you remember, such calls are counted by the “home” network operator. And to make an outgoing call, a not very convenient “call back” procedure is used: the number is dialed with a special prefix, after a confirmation signal the connection is disconnected, and an incoming call is expected (a bit like using the auto-dial service in BeeLine or MTS). However, a real-time information exchange system between operators has already been developed and is being used in some places - CAMEL (Customized Applications for Mobile Networks Enhanced Logic). This service, introduced by Paegas operators in the Czech Republic and D1 in Germany, allows subscribers of prepaid systems to enjoy all the benefits of roaming and additionally make free calls to replenish the balance and control the use of funds.

Conclusion

Discussions are now in full swing about what the third generation mobile communication networks will be like and what services will be provided in them. The future will show what will take root and what will sink into oblivion. But one thing can be said with confidence: the technology of automatic roaming, which has proven itself so brilliantly in GSM networks, will continue to exist until some new, accessible global mobile network(like the bankrupt Iridium) - but this is already (yet?) science fiction.

One of the very controversial projects of MTS, in which “everything at once” was mixed, as in the old advertisement for the “Jeans” tariff. And if we talk about the consequences for subscribers, then the wording “all at once” seems more appropriate, Lately The company works particularly well in such acrobatic sketches.

Intranet, lyrical

As I have already written more than once, intranet and so-called “preferential intranet” roaming is a constant and never-ending auto-drinker for our operators. People move from one region to another, where can they go? Some for work, some for the dacha, and some for home by train. Price policy operators in neighboring regions have always been diverse, and people, willy-nilly, adapted to the peculiarities of this policy. In Beeline, these were historically just home tariffs without any tricks, plus free incoming ones; in MTS, as a response, they invented “home tariffs” with free incoming ones, but numerous footnotes, asterisks, and notes. MegaFon-Moscow appeared later and did not come up with anything, setting a fixed price of 9 rubles per minute. for all incoming and outgoing calls.

Over time, preferential intranet roaming has turned into an effective tool for competition, obtaining additional income and even marketing. In MTS people were driven from archived tariffs, effectively excommunicating them from preferential roaming without warning, and they carried out these guerrilla operations more than once. Beeline and MTS introduced a widespread shutdown of the “free” service with its subsequent restart. Of course, for a symbolic 30 rubles, is that really money? And the fact that hundreds and thousands were collected in the process from inattentive people, so you need to follow the news. Okay, now this is a thing of the past, as they say, let's move on.

Let's return to the topic of MTS intranet roaming. The foundation of the entire roaming pricing structure could be considered a few simple building blocks:

• “Pseudo-home” tariff with numerous notes declaring almost all tariff parameters as “discounts” and “promotions”
• An additional fine of 10 rubles. for every minute of conversation with a non-egg network subscriber
• Prohibitively expensive local calls on almost all tariffs
• Humane prices for calls within the network and additional tricks and concessions to make these prices even lower

Is it any wonder that over many years of experimenting with their own wallets, MTS subscribers traveling around Russia have developed a kind of “code of conduct” when roaming? The main thing is not to call “enemy” networks; local calls in the region of your stay are also taboo. Only family MTS subscribers; in extreme cases, you can still call the phone number of an identical MGTS colleague. It’s not always convenient, but you can live, the limitations were compensated by a cheap intranet.

In non-preferential intranet roaming there was also “dancing with a tambourine” around the “your-home-wild” tariff with different surcharges for calls to different directions, but this is all part of history.

Miracles on turns

Now let's see what they have come up with in the current version of a completely revised intranet roaming scheme. Read the news, important quotes:

“Starting March 6, tariffs will be simplified for all MTS subscribers and new communication opportunities will open throughout Russia in the MTS network! In order to increase the convenience of using communications in on-network roaming, MTS is introducing a single tariff of 8.9 rubles per minute for incoming and outgoing calls to MTS Russia subscribers, calls to landline phones and numbers of other cellular operators in Moscow and the Moscow region when the subscriber is in on-network roaming .

Do you often travel around the country? Take advantage of special services

• “Neighboring Regions” - Communicate while traveling in nearby regions at your home rate, as if you never left. When you connect to the service, all incoming calls in intranet roaming are free, and the cost of an SMS will be 1.95 rubles.
• Service “All regions of MTS Russia” - Communicate while traveling around Russia with MTS subscribers in Moscow and the Moscow region at home rates! For most tariff plans, when connecting to the service, the cost of a minute of call to MTS subscribers in Moscow and the Moscow region will be 5 rubles/min, and the cost of an outgoing SMS message will be 1.95 rubles.
• “Favorite Region” service - Select a region in which calls to MTS subscribers in Moscow and the Moscow region and MTS subscribers in the host region (selected “favorite” region) will be charged at home tariff, in accordance with your tariff plan in the “Outgoing” direction calls to Cell phones MTS of other regions of Russia." For most tariff plans, when activating the “Favorite Region” service, the cost of a call to MTS subscribers in Moscow and the Moscow region and to MTS subscribers in the host region will be only 5 rubles/min.»

So, exactly what happened was what I wrote about in the recent preview. In the basic version of intranet roaming (without additional services) the fine for calls to phone numbers“enemies” and removed on-net benefits, bringing the cost of incoming and outgoing calls to a single price. It seems that everything has become like its competitors? Call yourself and receive all calls for 8.90 rubles per minute if you don’t want to pay a ruble a day for free incoming calls. Even 10 kopecks cheaper than MegaFon, and 5 kopecks. cheaper than Beeline. So? Not exactly, this is the time to start watching the magician's hands.

It turns out that the biography of a wonderful little animal called “your home tariff“has not gone away, this marketing skunk continues to smell and spoil MTS subscribers literally at every step. And marketers and developers of the roaming scheme have created an unusual hybrid of a pseudo-single price (for news delivery) and elements of a “home tariff” scheme with asterisks-notes (for “correct” tariffication). The current version of the “your home tariff” description is as follows:

“Home” tariff - your tariff for communication services when you are in Moscow and the Moscow region, namely in the direction of the call during the daytime in accordance with the tariff plan, for the first full minute (for tariff plan“Calculated” for the 4th minute), excluding discounts and services that reduce the tariff, discounts operating as part of promotions, discounts on calls within the framework of the “Progressive Annual Contract” and “Annual Contract” campaigns, tariffs for communication services when in the tariff "Region" zone, unless otherwise specified in the tariff plan."

The amazing thing is nearby, but at some point the marketers were suddenly overcome by modesty, and any asterisks, footnotes or other marks in the phrase “your home tariff” disappeared. The transcript was still there, but at first it was shoved further away on another page. Then they came to their senses and returned it, but there are still no footnotes, it seems that the transcript exists on its own and is not relevant to the case. It’s a trifle, but people on the forums were already falling into collective excitement on the topic “Hurray!!! The star notes have been removed, finally an honest home tariff, like a competitor!!!” So: only the quotation marks and asterisks (protruding skunk ears) were removed, but essentially everything remained as it was. And you can take the lip rolling machine out of the kitchen table. What does this mean? Well, for example, in the price of a local call during a trip. In Beeline and MegaFon we pay a fixed 8.95/9 rubles, but in MTS it will be “your wild tariff”. Yes, yes, yes, that very “home tariff”, which consists of the price of a long-distance call within Russia plus the local component, a total of 20 rubles. in a minute local call at the popular TP “Svobodny”.

Mysterious subscription fee

Let's move on. Last days On the eve of the introduction of subscription fees for the services “preferential intranet roaming” and “everywhere at home” (separately for each), the contact center was tormented with calls with questions about the future subscriber. And the girls answered everyone “no, there are no subscription fees for these services.” They lied several dozen times a day, and supervisors carefully monitored the sound quality of these lies on air. The essence of the scheme is that from the moment automatic daily billing began, the services changed their names, and formally there was nothing to complain about, now it is a completely different service, and no one lied! Although the poor girls, of course, understood everything perfectly.

Wait, but that’s also not possible. Formally, it turns out that the company disconnected old services without a subscription fee (it has the right) and, on its own initiative, forcibly connected millions of subscribers to new services with a subscription? Bottom! But no, you can easily do it, watch your hands. Here is a girl convincingly lying about the absence of a monthly fee for the LVSR service, after 30 seconds information appears on the website about the renaming of the LVSR service to the “Neighboring Regions” service, and then the charging of the previous, but now renamed service begins.

But that's not all preparatory work, we continue to monitor our hands. Simultaneously with the announcement of new roaming conditions, inconspicuous news is published, completely changing all roaming prices and the very principles of constructing the pricing grid. Quote:

“Call MTS subscribers in other cities of Russia at a single price! Dear subscribers, now for your convenience, the cost of outgoing calls to mobile phones of MTS subscribers in other regions of Russia, when located in Moscow and the Moscow region, is equal to a single price - 5 rubles / min.”

It would seem that there is nothing wrong, on the contrary. It was 2.50 rubles per minute, and people went crazy, multiplying difficult numbers in their heads. Now “for their convenience” they made 5 rubles per minute, and multiplying became much easier. Why didn’t you immediately make 10 rubles? – it’s unclear, with an even rounder number it would have become quite convenient. The beauty is that the fragrant skunk called your home tariff (without asterisks and quotation marks) implies the price of a minute of a call in roaming as the cost of a call to regional networks MTS. And they just made it equal to five rubles, you were watching the magician’s hands, weren’t you? That’s it, now relatively cheap calls within the network (to MTS subscribers) in intranet roaming are “dead to live for a long time.” But the fine for calls to enemy networks was canceled, which is positive. And for only 1 or 2 rubles a subscription fee per day.