Telecom capital in December

In the last month of the outgoing year, just a bunch of news events fell from the companies in the communications market in Moscow! At first I thought to write separate materials about each of them, but then I decided to make a kind of digest. Perhaps not even the last. So I’ll call it “Telecom of the capital number 1”. In this issue: passions around MTS Evropeisky, a sudden intensification of competition in the WiMAX market, the launch of mobile digital television and the launch of 3G on the streets of Moscow.

European passions

The first days of December were marked by a terrible panic in the blogosphere. There were shouts of “Stealing!” And calls for a boycott of a particular company. Rays of hatred were sent towards MTS.

Let's try to figure out what really happened. At the very beginning of December, a footnote appeared in the descriptions of some tariff plans on the site www.mts.ru , saying that users who are “silent” for 150 days will be transferred to the European tariff plan. The most interesting was covered in the description of this “European” one: the monthly fee is 10,000 rubles per month.

The footnote was noticed quite quickly, and soon a wave of popular anger went on the blogs. Behind a huge number of people are contracts, SIM-cards from which have long been thrown out or lost. The overwhelming majority at the same time simply forgot about old SIMs, believing that they remained in the past and had no connection with the present. Due to the actions of MTS, the public was frightened that the goal of the operator was to drive them into a debt hole, first at a space speed (329 rubles a day!), Taking the balance to minus, and then transferring the matter to collection agencies. The latter do not differ in respect for the law and for the individual, and mercilessly “press” (of course, extremely rarely physically, usually psychologically) debtors, moreover, they do this with the tenacity of a tank, without sometimes not paying attentionwhether a person is being harassed. In short, the natural desire of anyone who heard about this story was to contact the MTS office as soon as possible, terminate all existing contracts and never have anything to do with this operator again, there is a good alternative.

In general, subscribers have no good reason to trust the operator. The contract does not record the operator’s obligation to stop providing services when the balance goes negative - this is only his right. Thus, the subscriber, despite the pre-paid payment system chosen by him, is a potential debtor.

It is interesting that already at the moment of the outbreak of indignation, a hastily cobbled news appeared on the operator’s website with a very brief description of the innovation and a list of affected tariff plans:

RED, MAXI One, New Year's, RED_Text, Guest, First, Basic, Practical, All Own, Favorite, Universal, Hot JEANS, JEANS 0.07, JEANS-Classic, Super JEANS, JEANS-Tonic, Regional , Free, Girlfriends , Guest, Guest , We, Classy , RED New, Calculating, Odin.Ru, Caring , Many calls , Maxi Active (fed)

Here I want to make a remark, which should be paid attention to the employees of PR-services of companies. Bloggers repeated one after another that the changes concern absolutely all tariff plans, including both archived and current ones. None of them bothered to check with the source. It is clear that the full list of all MTS tariff plans is an order of magnitude longer. What is this talking about? The crowd is a dangerous thing, it not only disseminates information, but also strengthens it many times. Rumors spread faster than light, and their reliability is comparable to fairy tales about mermaids. When making any actions affecting the interests of a group of people, you need to be prepared for the fact that you will be accused of flooding Atlantis. The blogosphere is a substance impregnated with gunpowder. And PR specialists need to understand that their work is a hundred times more complicated than the work of a sapper. There would be words in the original posts (written in jest or with malicious intent) that someone had already called and offered to pay off the “European” debt - be sure, you would have quoted this in blogs. But the MTS PR service was completely unprepared for such a development. But more about that below, and first about the real essence of the changes and their motives.

So, why was all this started? On the "balance" of the operators over time, a considerable number of "dead souls" accumulate. They are silent for months, but have a certain amount in the account. There are no profits from them, they are not taken into account in reports for shareholders, but they occupy a share of the numbering capacity, and they also increase the price of licenses for various software used by the operator, for example, a billing system. If the operator had the power, he would simply turn off these silent men, and take the money for himself, well, or take it for storage “on demand”. Lacking knowledge in the field of accounting, I will assume that if this is possible by law and is possible, then it is fraught with noticeable difficulties. Therefore, operators find tricks in order to "burn" money in the accounts of such subscribers, after which they already break the contracts.

All operators of the Big Three and earlier in one way or another were engaged in "cleaning" the accounts of the silent. In MegaFon and Beeline, after several months of silence, a fee for saving the number starts to be debited from the balance, that is, it is directly indicated that the money is being spent and maintaining the subscriber unit as such. For the same purpose, MTS transferred “dumb” to the “Basic 09” tariff plan with a subscription fee of 3.35 rubles per day, that is, the solution was blinded from improvised materials, taking a TP with a suitable subscription fee, and why should the silent say 70 SMS (included in the subscription fee) - as if remains a mystery.

But 3.35 rubles. per day is slow. I wanted to quickly. 329 rubles a day - great speed! Why put pressure on the gas pedal, if the money would have been debited with time, it’s not clear. And in any case - this money is already in the hands of MTS, it can spend it on any joys, leaving only the obligation to provide customers with services in the appropriate amount. Maybe I wanted to reflect this money in the report. However, later the press service claimed that the changes would affect three thousand subscribers with balances of the order of a thousand rubles. Three million rubles. Was the game worth the candle? Will the shareholders blur in a happy smile from such an increase?

Back to the fighting. After the public was furiously excited, the operator’s press service was simply at a loss. It took several hours to think about who was to blame and what to do. While the managers reluctantly resigned to the fact that it was time to “turn everything back and forth,” the press service supplemented the news on the website with reassuring words that they were not going to drive anyone into debt. At the same time, the press service tried to reassure the population through the same blogosphere, adding to the thesis that there were no intentions to dig debt holes, the promise to return all the money written off according to the European tariff on the first appeal of the victim. All this did not help much, and the next day, MTS urgently convened a press conference to inform: "We changed our minds." The terms of the “action” (the whole action was called that way) changed: the list of affected tariff plans was slightly corrected, and they began to transfer subscribers not to Basic 09, but to Basic. The difference between the second and the first, apparently, lies only in the fact that “Basic” does not allow transferring to another TP for free (“Basic 09” gave such an opportunity). Actually, this is the end of the story, and there must have been more gray hair on the heads of the MTS press service. There will be something for the grandchildren to tell.

Battle for WiMAX

In early December, the struggle between the two operators that provide mobile Internet services using WiMAX technology: Yota and Comstar, rapidly intensified. The former had and has a significant advantage in terms of coverage. Despite the brisk start, Comstar soon slowed down, soon information appeared about this operator’s unwillingness to develop the network in the regions (including the Moscow region), and Comstar-WiMAX’s prospects as a serious competitor to Iota became foggy. Comstar made a bid on prices: its advantage was the availability of tariff plans with a low or even zero monthly fee and very cheap USB adapters.

What happened in early December? On the 2nd of Comstar made a gorgeous offer for all subscribers of home Internet and Stream television: they got the opportunity to use WiMAX Internet for free with a limit of 1 GB per month for six months. In fact, Stream subscribers were offered - “Would you like to try for free?”, And you only need to pay for the adapter at the price of 490 rubles. For a very rough estimate of the number of interested people, this observation is suitable: in the 10 minutes I spent in the Comstar office, two people bought WiMAX modems. And these were those who chose to get to the point of sale on their own, and not order a free courier delivery.

Against Comstar, such an unexpected factor as winter can play here. “Testers” will be forced to test communications not on park benches, but in warm apartments. Because of this, the impression of the quality of the reception as a whole can be negative, despite the fact that in a mobile application, coverage would satisfy many.

But this was only the first of the blows. At the same time, another followed. Comstar changed its subscriber authentication system and made it possible to connect laptops and netbooks with Intel's WiMAX adapters to its network. Is it worth telling what tremendous efforts Yota made to ensure that the Russian market is filled with an acceptable assortment of laptops with WiMAX modules? In fact, Yota managed to get customers to look at the “WiMAX support” column in the device specifications - it’s just a huge job to promote and popularize WiMAX in Russia. Now Comstar will reap the fruits of these labors. Today, any owner of a laptop with a blue Yota sticker has a choice and can become a Comstar-WiMAX subscriber. In principle, it’s not so ugly. When introducing any new technology, of any new service, the whole burden of the task of promoting it rests with the pioneer, and followers come, as they say, already ready. The reward for the pioneer is cream on the young market, and they are sweet. However, you should not think that Yota subscribers with laptops will massively run into the arms of Comstar. Most of them either do not know about the alternative, or the current operator also suits them.

Soon, Iota struck back. Owners of Acer and ASUS laptops with a WiFi module are invited to contact a service center and replace it with a WiMAX / WiFi module for 1,900 rubles. And, of course, become a Yota subscriber. True, a list of models that fall under this possibility is not given. It is also not known whether these modules will be “locked up” to work exclusively on the Yota network.

Let's look at the current alignment of forces. In terms of tariffs, Yota and Comstar, as a first approximation, see a separation without competition: Yota relies on unlimited access for 900 rubles per month, while Comstar offers limit tariffs for less money. At the same time, the latter offers a tariff plan for 700 rubles with a monthly limit of 15 gigabytes of traffic - this tariff can be considered conditionally unlimited. Total in terms of prices, the advantage is on the side of Comstar.

Yota, in turn, boasts a very rich range of subscriber devices: from USB adapters to WiMAX-WiFi routers, including the wonderful stand-alone Yota Egg (I don’t understand why the “egg” - the device looks more like a bar of soap), with which everyone can create an “Internet zone” around them.



Finally, the already mentioned coating. By the number of base stations, Iota is far ahead - it has about 600 BS. So far, Comstar has only two hundred BS, although it bears Napoleonic plans for an early increase in their number by one and a half times. However, the load must be taken into account - the dense network of Iota is overloaded (50 BSs are completely overloaded, 30-40% of BSs have up to 90 subscribers in one sector instead of 30), with an excellent signal level the speed is sometimes tortoise. The network of Comstar, frankly, is full of holes, but if there is a signal, the Internet just “flies”.

High-speed 3G crawled to Moscow

Well, were you afraid that 3G will not appear on the streets of Moscow this year? Sayochka for fear! If the Chief had already ordered, there is nowhere to retreat. Moreover, the latter applies to the state regulator with the military, and operators. If people in uniform are very reluctant to give frequencies (and research and testing need money, as well as reconfiguration / replacement of equipment, development of new rules, etc.), then the operators openly doubt whether they need it. A few years ago, the Big Three received licenses in a voluntary-compulsory (rumored) manner. In some regions, third-generation networks were indeed deployed, while in others it was necessary to restrict the installation of single 3G base stations to fulfill licensing requirements.

In Moscow, the situation began to move from a dead center only this summer, when MTS received permission to use indoor frequencies. Residents of houses next to the “fenced off” objects quietly rejoiced at the third-generation radio waves reaching them. With outdoor coverage, everything was so obscure that operators began to think about using EGSM frequencies in the 900 MHz band for 3G. This could result in problems both for users of regular 2G-communication, and for owners of 3G-phones, designed for work at frequencies of 2.1 GHz, of which the majority.

Finally, on the 14th, a go-ahead was given to the regulator: to immediately take 3G base stations into operation, moreover, in the “good” frequencies of 2.1 GHz. As they say, let's go!

So far, on the streets of Moscow, 3G coverage can only be found at a few points. For example, Beeline went under the sky where it had already deployed 3G in the subway just below, for example, near Tverskaya and Kitay-Gorod stations. In this regard, I would like to ask you a question: where were you able to catch the 3G signal? Leave feedback about your observations in comments.

In the field of tariffs for new conditions, Beeline was the first to respond. The company rolled out special offers: packages for one and three gigabytes at tasty prices: 495 and 795 rubles, respectively.

A few more words about the indecision of the operators themselves. In fact, 3G brings benefits to them in two ways. Firstly, third-generation networks bring with them an increase in traffic consumption of about 30-40 percent. Secondly, it is beneficial for the operator that the data be transferred faster and the frequency resource is freed up for others. On the other hand, the introduction of 3G is a huge cost, which in a crisis is simply scary to go.

TV in mobile

We will devote separate material to mobile television, but for now a few words in order to understand what is being discussed. There is such a technology of digital television - DVB-H. The technology is broadcast, that is, the receivers only receive the signal from the transmitter (as in conventional analog television), and do not load the data network (as, for example, in television via GPRS).

On November 30, Yota launched broadcasts in this standard. Anyone can use the service, this will require only one thing - the Nokia N96 phone. The installed SIM-card does not affect reception in any way; it may not exist at all. Curiously, the service was called Yota TV - just like WiMAX TV from the same company. Why so much confusion? Poor employees of those. Iota support ...

Yota does not take money for the service and seems to be not going to take it, vowing to promise to think about monetization a little later.

Eight channels are available to users (calling their subscribers the language does not turn and the finger does not bend - because they have no contracts with the operator): Channel One, Russia, Vesti, Bibigon, NTV, Channel Five, Muz-TV and 7TV.

A similar service performed by Beeline was launched on December 7th. But just enjoying their mobile box of zombies is not so simple. The fact is that you will need a special SIM card with an applet recorded on it to identify the TV subscriber. You can sign a new contract, or you can simply change your existing SIM card. The second nuance: Beeline Mobile TV only works on the Samsung P-960. The Nokia N96 mentioned above sees the signal, but cannot turn it into a picture. In turn, the Samsung P-960 cannot watch Yota TV. It turns out that the technology is one, and the implementations are completely incompatible.

Beeline has a better set of channels: Channel One (in the press release it has been listed as “ORT”, but 7 years have passed already), Russia, Vesti24, NTV, Petersburg Channel 5, Bibigon, GamelandTV, 7TV, MuzTV, RUTV, A1.

Both operators have 35 DVB-H transmitters at their disposal. Beeline shows a map, which shows a very dense coverage within the Moscow Ring Road. Yota is modest, however, there is information that she simply copies the network plan by installing transmitters on the same buildings. Accordingly, the coverage map will coincide.

So far, Beeline Mobile TV is working in test mode, and money is not taken for it. Later it is planned to split the full set of channels into packages and provide access to them for a monthly fee. Moreover, even to watch channels from the Basic package (it includes the so-called social package of channels, which by law should be provided to subscribers for free) you will have to pay a certain amount for the use of the service itself.

Honestly, it's hard to judge the prospects of the service. Companies have a great deal of work to fill the market with DVB-H enabled phones. Without this, it makes no sense to talk about any kind of popularization of mobile television.

These were the main, in my opinion, events of December of the outgoing year on the market of communication services in Moscow. Although the month has not yet ended, it is unlikely that anything significant will happen in the remaining week. And if it happens, I’ll definitely tell you about it in the next issue of Telecom Capital.

© Ilya Rubtsov , 2009, especially for Habra and Cyberstyle.ru