Belarus’ telecom operators MTS and life:) to cut voice roaming tariffs in Russia Nov 1

<p> MINSK, Oct 22 - PrimePress. Belarusian mobile operators MTS (JLLC Mobile TeleSystems) and life:) (CJSC BeST) have announced a move to decrease their voice roaming tariffs in Russia fr om November 1, 2020. They posted relevant press-releases on their corporate websites. </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported with reference to the Oct 21 resolution of the high-level group of the Union State Council of Ministers, telecom operators of Belarus and Russia will switch to a new roaming tariff from November 1, 2020 in test mode. The interconnect rate will decrease to 1.5 US cents per minute from the current 30 cents. This will significantly reduce the cost of communication for customers in Belarus and Russia. </p> <p>   </p> <p> MTS Belarus says, starting from November 1, the cost of incoming calls for MTS subscribers staying in Russia will amount to Br0.11 ($0.04 at the rate of the National Bank of Belarus) per 1 minute. The price of outgoing roaming calls to Belarus from Russia will be Br0.22 ($0.08; $1 - Br2.5466) per 1 minute, and the price of outgoing calls within the country of stay - Br0.55 ($0.21) per 1 minute. </p> <p>   </p> <p> “The reduction in the cost of calls will apply to all MTS subscribers regardless of the tariff plan and network of the Russian operator wh ere the mobile device will be registered. Transition to the new voice roaming tariffs will occur automatically from November 1, 2020” the message says. </p> <p>   </p> <p> At the same time, the prices for text messages and Internet traffic will remain unchanged. At the same time, starting from November 1, MTS subscribers in Russia will have access to the service "1 GB abroad", including 1 GB of Internet traffic for 7 days. The cost of the service is Br15 ($5.89). </p> <p>   </p> <p> Belarus’ mobile operator life:) also reported a reduction in the cost of services for calls in Russia. Thus, an outgoing call to Belarus will cost Br0.27 ($0.10) per 1 minute instead of Br1.6 ($0.62). The cost of outgoing calls to the host country will be reduced to Br0.65 ($0.25) per 1 minute instead of Br1.6 ($0.62). An incoming call will cost Br0.11 ($0.04) per minute instead of Br0.70 ($0.27) and the cost of outgoing text messages will be reduced from Br0.70 per minute to Br0.09 ($0.03). </p> <p>   </p> <p> As previously reported, Russia’s largest mobile operators announced on October 21 that they were ready to introduce new tariffs starting from 1 November. For instance, MTS Russia informed that the company is technically and organizationally ready to cancel roaming and expects the completion of all necessary measures by the Belarusian partners, as well as confirmation from the Belarusian partners to reduce the cost rates from November 1. </p> <p>   </p> <p> MTS was registered in Belarus on April 4, 2002. The operator is a joint venture between Russia’s largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Belarus’ Beltelecom operator. The companies hold respective stakes of 49% and 51% in the joint venture. </p> <p>   </p> <p> MTS Belarus started providing GSM 900/1800 standard services on June 27, 2002; launched 3G revenue service in May 2010 and 4G revenue service in December 2015. Since 2017 the operator has been developing its own NB-IoT network in Belarus. The operator’s subscriber base totals 5.7 million. </p> <p>   </p> <p> BeST CJSC (life:)) was licensed to provide communication services on March 24, 2005, and began commercial operation of its network on December 21, 2005. The provision of services under the life:) brand began on December 3, 2008. The operator has been rendering 3G-based services since November 2, 2009, and LTE-based services since August 2016. The operator’s subscriber base counts 1.1 million active users. End </p>

2020-10-23

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