MTS notified subscribers about another price increase

MTS has been increasing a number of tariffs by 10–12% since the end of September. The company justifies the increase in price by spending on infrastructure modernization due to increased traffic. At the same time, based on the results of the first half of the year, the operator’s capital expenditures decreased by 7% year-on-year, to RUB 37.4 billion. All operators are increasing prices, analysts say. The situation has already been brought to the attention of the FAS, which last year fined MTS and MegaFon, obliging them to return tariffs to their previous level.

From MTS SMS notifications that several Kommersant employees received, it follows that from September 28, prices on at least two tariffs will increase by about 12%. MTS explained to Kommersant that “on some archived tariffs, the monthly subscription fee will change, but the change will be less than 10%.” For some of the archived tariffs affected by the adjustment, the subscription fee remained unchanged for several years, the operator emphasized, assuring that “prices remain profitable.”

The company explained the increase in price due to an increase in equipment maintenance costs and the need to invest in the expansion and modernization of networks against the backdrop of growing traffic.

Other operators are also reviewing their tariffs. From the information dated September 8 on the Yota website (a virtual operator operating on the MegaFon network) it follows that from September 22 some archived tariffs will be closed: “If you have a basic tariff without packages of minutes and GB, then it will change to the basic tariff of home region. If you have an archive plan with a package of minutes and GB, you will receive additional information.” Yota admits that “they are closing a number of archived tariffs,” but “there is no talk of increasing prices, the changes are of a technical nature.”

MegaFon and VimpelCom notified some customers in March that they were increasing tariffs by up to 20%. The latter company explained that the price increase “occurs within economically justified parameters,” and information “if necessary is provided to the Ministry of Digital Development and the Federal Antimonopoly Service.” MegaFon “does not plan to revise the cost of tariffs for existing customers in the near future.”

The FAS promises to analyze the situation: “The services are receiving complaints from MTS subscribers about tariff increases. We will send a request to the operator to establish the circumstances of the increase.” In case of violations of antimonopoly legislation, the service “will take response measures,” the FAS added. Last year, the service already accused MTS and MegaFon of unreasonably increasing prices for more than 44.5 million subscribers, ordered them to return them to the previous level and imposed a fine. The operators tried to appeal the decision in the Moscow Arbitration Court, but to no avail (see “Kommersant” dated July 21).

According to the results of the second quarter, MTS Group’s revenue increased year-on-year by 14.8%, to 146.7 billion rubles, net profit – by 53.5%, to 16.8 billion rubles. Revenue in Russia increased by 14.5%, to 144.3 billion rubles. (net profit – by 45.2%, to 17.4 billion rubles), in particular, from communication services – by 7.6%, to 108.7 billion rubles. At the same time, MTS CAPEX for the first half of the year decreased by 7% year-on-year to RUB 37.4 billion.

Since 2022, telecom operators, due to sanctions and the withdrawal of Western vendors from the market, have experienced a shortage of equipment for network development.

Earlier, Skoltech estimated that Russian telecom operators lack about 50 thousand base stations for the full construction of networks (see “Kommersant” dated September 8). Due to the fact that the cost of importing foreign base stations and other telecommunications equipment has increased significantly, the Ministry of Digital Development proposed to allow operators to increase tariffs above the inflation rate “by the amount specified by regulatory authorities.” This initiative is contained in the draft strategy for the development of the Russian communications industry until 2035. Annual inflation, according to Rosstat, accelerated from 4.3% at the end of July to 5.15% in August. The Central Bank expects inflation to be 5.1–5.7% by the end of the year.

Price increases are happening for all operators, so there will be no transfer of MTS subscribers to competitors, notes Telecom Daily CEO Denis Kuskov: “It is important that the price increase actually contributes to maintaining the quality of communication.” Kommersant’s interlocutor on the telecom market noted that in the current situation it is more profitable for operators to pay fines to the FAS or try to challenge its decisions until the possibility of price increases above inflation is approved: “Service checks are unlikely to stop the rise in prices, operators need to maintain profitability in the conditions rising prices for equipment.”

Yulia Tishina, Yulia Yurasova