August 23, 2009 at 00:07Mobile Internet in Belarus. What do we have
Anticipating the arrival of Iota, I wanted to cry over to analyze the available offers on the mobile Internet market in Belarus. To somehow figure out and dream about what to expect from a new player to win an audience. I hope someone will find this info useful.
So, today in the country there are three GSM ( one of them GSM + UMTS from 02.11.2009 ) operators, one CDMA2000 and in large cities there is a Wi-Fi network from Beltelecom.
* I quoted prices in dollars approximately 1 $ = 2 850 bel. rub.
** prices in Russian rubles can be estimated by dividing white in the mind. rubles per 100 :)
GPRS / EDGE
Situation 1: I wanted mobile Internet, here and now, without leaving my home (you are already a subscriber of a certain operator). You immediately climbed on the Internet with your phone: what comes of it. On all voice tariff plans (except BUSSINES.PRO), by default, GPRS / EDGE traffic is charged according to WEB BASIC tariff plan. All you need to do is enable the Mobile Internet service from your phone .
Mobile Internet tariffication for BUSINESS.PRO subscribers is by default the same WEB BASIC, but with different conditions:
Other options of WEB XXX TP have a monthly fee, they are connected additionally (and are given in the tables in the columns to the right). On all existing voice tariff plans, by default, the GPRS / EDGE Internet access tariffing is :
* The charging interval is 5 Kbytes with rounding upwards (separately for transmitted and received data).
In addition, there are a number of additional services / packages that can be added to your tariff plan.
Internet +
* until 08/31/2009. As of September 1, 2009, the cost is 13,500 rubles ($ 4.7).
All tariffs are in Belarusian rubles, excluding VAT and service tax, charged as a premium to the price. The charging interval is 1 byte (separately for transmitted and received data).
Hyper.Net
You pay 3,500 once a day + for each megabyte you spend.
On all existing voice tariff plans, by default, the tariff for GPRS / EDGE access to the Internet is: 49 rubles ($ 0.02) for 50 Kbytes (tariffing for 50 Kb). From 02.11.2009 life :) launched a 3G network in Minsk and regional cities. Internet tariffs are the same for working in both formats.
To all tariffs, without getting up, you can connect the life :) INTERNET service :
* Internet traffic is charged at 1 Kb.
** at the exchange rate as of November 6, 2009.
All tariffs are in Belarusian rubles, including taxes (excluding VAT for legal entities), charged as a surcharge to the price, as of June 1, 2009.
Situation 2: I wanted the mobile Internet, and you are ready to get a second SIM card for this. For this, velcom has two special tariff plans WEB 250 and WEB 500. Or you can connect a voice TP without a monthly fee and add one of the Internet services described above.
* without VAT (not charged to individuals) and tax on communication services.
Users of the WEB 500 and WEB 250 tariff plan are not provided with voice traffic.
Accordingly, with this method of organizing access to the Internet, you will need a second phone / modem. You can manage with something used, or you can buy the ZTE MF628 HSDPA USB modem at the “special” price of 179,000 Br ($ 63) from the same velcom, subject to an additional charge . agreements with the adoption of obligations to use the communication services of FE “VELCOM” within the framework of the WEB 250 and WEB 500 tariff plans (without voice traffic) for a period of at least 12 months. The special offer is valid for individuals and legal entities. Tariffs for data transmission from the MTS Connect series :
* The charging interval is 1 byte (separately for transmitted and received data).
In addition to the packages, you can purchase modems:
The cost of a PCMCIA card when purchasing the MTS Connect package is 223,900 rubles ($ 79).
The cost of a USB modem when purchasing the MTS Connect package is 202,400 rubles ($ 71). Life :) has no special Internet TP. As a second Internet-oriented SIM, you will need to connect any voice tariff and add an Internet package (described above). Total:
EV-DO Diallog is the only CDMA2000 1xEVDO.RevA operator in the country. Objectively, only for voice this operator few will use / use. Therefore, we look only at the Internet tariffs for EV-DO. For minimal money there is a “High-speed Internet” tariff : the subscription fee is “only” 20,000 ($ 7), it includes 50 MB of traffic, each next MB in excess of the included will cost 250 rubles. ($ 0.09). Or, there is an option - TP "High-speed Internet" Seasons "" . There is a monthly fee of 10,000 ($ 3.5), there are no MBs included, the fee for each MB of traffic is 275 rubles. ($ 0.1). The unit for charging data services is 1 Kbyte of incoming and outgoing traffic. Other tariffs
on EV-DO. velcom has recently concluded an agreement with diallog on the use of its infrastructure and the resale of services based on EV-DO. Service "High Speed Mobile Internet" :
* Tariffs are indicated in Belarusian rubles without taxes.
Options for acquiring a USB modem:
Total:
Wi-Fi from Beltelecom
Access cost:
MTS subscribers can pay directly from their mobile phones by sending SMS to certain numbers. Beltelecom provides 200 Mb of free Wi-Fi traffic per month for Beltelecom ADSL
users . All megabytes that are used in excess of 200 free ones will be taken into account and included in the payment system according to your ADSL tariff plan. Total:
What about unlimited?
And there are only two such offers, and both of them are nightly: “ Intern @ yt ” service. A fee of 35,000 rubles ($ 12) per month is provided for using the Intern @ yt service, excluding VAT and service tax. As part of this service, charges for Internet traffic from 0:00 to 8:00 during the month will be compensated from the amount of 35,000 rubles. The tariff plan " Night unlimited EV-DO " from 23-00 to 7-59. Subscription fee 118,000 rubles ($ 41). The rest of the time, 1 MB of traffic costs 150 rubles ($ 0.05). Total-go-go:
Yota has a chance to offer something tasty and tempting, but all of the above listed existing players, except, probably, velcom and Beltelecom, are unlikely to keep such prices out of greed. Everything still rests on the monopoly on the channel’s headings :(
UPD 11/06/2009 : life :) 3G tariffs have been updated / added :)
So, today in the country there are three GSM ( one of them GSM + UMTS from 02.11.2009 ) operators, one CDMA2000 and in large cities there is a Wi-Fi network from Beltelecom.
* I quoted prices in dollars approximately 1 $ = 2 850 bel. rub.
** prices in Russian rubles can be estimated by dividing white in the mind. rubles per 100 :)
GPRS / EDGE
Situation 1: I wanted mobile Internet, here and now, without leaving my home (you are already a subscriber of a certain operator). You immediately climbed on the Internet with your phone: what comes of it. On all voice tariff plans (except BUSSINES.PRO), by default, GPRS / EDGE traffic is charged according to WEB BASIC tariff plan. All you need to do is enable the Mobile Internet service from your phone .
| - | WEB BASIC | WEB 25 | WEB 250 | WEB 500 |
| Subscription fee | - | 11 800 ($ 4) | 35,400 ($ 12) | 45,000 ($ 16) |
| Included | - | 25 MB | 250 MB | 500 MB |
| Price for 1 MB above the included traffic | 2950 [up to 3 MB] (1 $) 590 [over 3 MB] (0.21 $) | 708 [over 25 MB] ($ 0.25) 472 [over 50 MB] ($ 0.17) | 295 [over 250 MB] ($ 0.10) | 177 [over 500 MB] (0.06 $) |
| Rounding | 50 kB | 50 kB | 50 kB | 1 kB |
Mobile Internet tariffication for BUSINESS.PRO subscribers is by default the same WEB BASIC, but with different conditions:
| - | WEB BASIC | WEB 25 | WEB 250 | WEB 500 |
| Subscription fee | - | - | 35,400 ($ 12) | 45,000 ($ 16) |
| Included | 20 | 45 MB | 270 MB | 520 MB |
| Price for 1 MB above the included traffic | 590 [over 20 MB] (0.21 $) | 708 [over 45 MB] ($ 0.25) 472 [over 50 MB] ($ 0.17) | 295 [over 270 MB] ($ 0.10) | 177 [over 520 MB] ($ 0.06) |
| Rounding | 50 kB | 50 kB | 50 kB | 1 kB |
Other options of WEB XXX TP have a monthly fee, they are connected additionally (and are given in the tables in the columns to the right). On all existing voice tariff plans, by default, the GPRS / EDGE Internet access tariffing is :
| Connection time | from 8:00 to 0:00 | from 0:00 to 8:00 |
| Fee for transmitted and received data, for 50 Kbytes | 50 ($ 0.02) | 35 ($ 0.01) |
In addition, there are a number of additional services / packages that can be added to your tariff plan.
Internet +
| - | Internet Light | Internet Asset | Internet Pro |
| Minimum required traffic fee per month | 12,500 * ($ 4.4) | 30,000 ($ 10.5) | 37,500 ($ 13.2) |
| Paid and provided traffic, per month, MB | fifty | 200 | 500 |
| Price for 1 MByte in excess of paid traffic | 300 ($ 0.11) | 200 ($ 0.07) | 150 ($ 0.05) |
All tariffs are in Belarusian rubles, excluding VAT and service tax, charged as a premium to the price. The charging interval is 1 byte (separately for transmitted and received data).
Hyper.Net
| - | Tariff plans of MTS and Jeans (except for "Jeans Classic" and "Jeans Classic 61") |
| Tariff for Hyper.Net service (per day) | 3,500 ($ 1.23) |
| Tariff for the service "Hyper.Net data transmission / reception" (per Mb) | 30 ($ 0.01) |
| - | life :) INTERNET 100 | life :) INTERNET 500 | life :) INTERNET 1000 | life :) INTERNET 2000 | life :) INTERNET 4000 |
| Enabled Internet traffic, MB | 100 | 500 | 1000 | 2000 | 4000 |
| The cost of subscribing to the service for 30 days, rubles. | 10,000 ($ 3.5) | 69,000 ($ 25 **) | 99,000 ($ 36 **) |
** at the exchange rate as of November 6, 2009.
All tariffs are in Belarusian rubles, including taxes (excluding VAT for legal entities), charged as a surcharge to the price, as of June 1, 2009.
Situation 2: I wanted the mobile Internet, and you are ready to get a second SIM card for this. For this, velcom has two special tariff plans WEB 250 and WEB 500. Or you can connect a voice TP without a monthly fee and add one of the Internet services described above.
| Tariffs for GPRS traffic | WEB 250 | WEB 500 |
| Volume of GPRS traffic included in the monthly fee, MB | 250 ($ 0.09) | 500 ($ 0.18) |
| Cost for 1 MB in excess of included traffic | 295 [over 250 MB] ($ 0.10) | 177 [over 500 MB] (0.06 $) |
| Rounding | 50 kB | 1 kB |
Users of the WEB 500 and WEB 250 tariff plan are not provided with voice traffic.
Accordingly, with this method of organizing access to the Internet, you will need a second phone / modem. You can manage with something used, or you can buy the ZTE MF628 HSDPA USB modem at the “special” price of 179,000 Br ($ 63) from the same velcom, subject to an additional charge . agreements with the adoption of obligations to use the communication services of FE “VELCOM” within the framework of the WEB 250 and WEB 500 tariff plans (without voice traffic) for a period of at least 12 months. The special offer is valid for individuals and legal entities. Tariffs for data transmission from the MTS Connect series :
| - | MTS Connect 150 | MTS Connect 600 | MTS Connect 1500 | MTS Connect 2500 |
| Included traffic, MB | 150 | 600 | 1500 | 2500 |
| Package cost, rubles | 24,000 ($ 8.5) | 39,000 ($ 13.7) | 90,000 ($ 31.6) | 125,000 ($ 43.9) |
| Cost of 1 Mb over paid traffic, rubles | 250 ($ 0.09) | 150 ($ 0.05) | 100 ($ 0.04) | 90 ($ 0.03) |
In addition to the packages, you can purchase modems:
The cost of a PCMCIA card when purchasing the MTS Connect package is 223,900 rubles ($ 79).
The cost of a USB modem when purchasing the MTS Connect package is 202,400 rubles ($ 71). Life :) has no special Internet TP. As a second Internet-oriented SIM, you will need to connect any voice tariff and add an Internet package (described above). Total:
| - | velcom | MTC | life :) |
| pros | + the best coverage of the country ; + consistently good quality work; | + relatively low cost; + good coverage of the country | + the only 3G operator; + relatively low cost |
| Minuses: | - expensive! | - no principal | - EDGE does not work everywhere; - low connection speed even where there is EDGE; - In general, the network is not stable; - the coverage of the country is less than that of GSM competitors; - there are no more "smaller" Internet packages, for example, 50 MB of included traffic |
EV-DO Diallog is the only CDMA2000 1xEVDO.RevA operator in the country. Objectively, only for voice this operator few will use / use. Therefore, we look only at the Internet tariffs for EV-DO. For minimal money there is a “High-speed Internet” tariff : the subscription fee is “only” 20,000 ($ 7), it includes 50 MB of traffic, each next MB in excess of the included will cost 250 rubles. ($ 0.09). Or, there is an option - TP "High-speed Internet" Seasons "" . There is a monthly fee of 10,000 ($ 3.5), there are no MBs included, the fee for each MB of traffic is 275 rubles. ($ 0.1). The unit for charging data services is 1 Kbyte of incoming and outgoing traffic. Other tariffs
on EV-DO. velcom has recently concluded an agreement with diallog on the use of its infrastructure and the resale of services based on EV-DO. Service "High Speed Mobile Internet" :
| TP name | Subscription fee | The amount of included traffic, GB | Price for 1 MB above the included traffic | Rounding, KB |
| Internet 1 | 50,000 ($ 18) | 1 | 99 ($ 0.03) | 1 |
| Internet 10 | 445,000 ($ 156) | 10 | 45 ($ 0.02) | 1 |
* Tariffs are indicated in Belarusian rubles without taxes.
Options for acquiring a USB modem:
- one-time purchase - 499,000 rubles ($ 175);
- installment purchase with an initial payment of 199,000 rubles ($ 70), a monthly payment of 25,000 rubles ($ 8.8);
- modem rental, rent - 10,000 rubles ($ 3.5) per month. The minimum rental period is 12 months;
- buy used
Total:
| - | diallog | velcom |
| Pros: | + speed (where there is EV-DO) | + high speed (where there is EV-DO) |
| Minuses: | - an incomparably modest coverage map of the country is EV-DO (in other places the Internet is in 1X mode); - even with all the reluctance, you need to buy a separate EV-DO terminal, which until recently, in case of refusal to use the services, would have to be sold, because We have only one CDMA operator (and now there is a choice - velcom). But you can buy a used phone / modem from $ 50; - An absolutely undeveloped network of service centers. It is possible to connect only in Minsk at the head office of the company or in the network of communication centers “Svyaznoy Nationwide”. | - even with all the reluctance, you need to buy a separate EV-DO terminal; - the incomparably modest coverage map of the country is EV-DO (in other places the Internet is in 1X mode) |
Wi-Fi from Beltelecom
Access cost:
| Face value | Wi-Fi access card price, rub. |
| 60 min | 1600 ($ 0.6) |
| 180 min | 4000 ($ 1.5) |
| 600 min | 9500 ($ 3.4) |
MTS subscribers can pay directly from their mobile phones by sending SMS to certain numbers. Beltelecom provides 200 Mb of free Wi-Fi traffic per month for Beltelecom ADSL
users . All megabytes that are used in excess of 200 free ones will be taken into account and included in the payment system according to your ADSL tariff plan. Total:
| - | Wi-Fi from Beltelecom |
| Pros: | + objectively, there aren’t much of them, apart from the fact of having a Wi-Fi network in the country |
| Minuses: | - a small number of hot spots, they are located in 99% of situations inside buildings / entertainment venues. As a rule, on the street near these places, the connection is either absent or very weak; - expensive; - you need a Wi-Fi module in your computer / phone |
What about unlimited?
And there are only two such offers, and both of them are nightly: “ Intern @ yt ” service. A fee of 35,000 rubles ($ 12) per month is provided for using the Intern @ yt service, excluding VAT and service tax. As part of this service, charges for Internet traffic from 0:00 to 8:00 during the month will be compensated from the amount of 35,000 rubles. The tariff plan " Night unlimited EV-DO " from 23-00 to 7-59. Subscription fee 118,000 rubles ($ 41). The rest of the time, 1 MB of traffic costs 150 rubles ($ 0.05). Total-go-go:
Yota has a chance to offer something tasty and tempting, but all of the above listed existing players, except, probably, velcom and Beltelecom, are unlikely to keep such prices out of greed. Everything still rests on the monopoly on the channel’s headings :(
UPD 11/06/2009 : life :) 3G tariffs have been updated / added :)