SberMobile and MegaFon entered into a technology partnership agreement

The virtual mobile operator SberMobile will use MegaFon’s infrastructure to expand its coverage area and develop new digital products. SberMobile plans to develop services for B2B and B2G areas, the Internet of things. Previously, SberMobile had already entered into a similar agreement with Tele2. Experts believe that the partnership is necessary to cover regions where Tele2 is not yet present, as well as to expand the subscriber base of the virtual operator, whose market share does not exceed 1%.

MegaFon and the virtual telecom operator (MVNO) SberMobile have entered into a technology partnership agreement, representatives of the operator told Kommersant. It involves increasing SberMobile’s coverage area in a number of regions of the country due to MegaFon’s physical infrastructure, expanding international roaming capabilities and introducing digital solutions for mass and corporate users.

In particular, SberMobile will start working on MegaFon networks in 15 regions of the North Caucasus, Volga region and the Far East (Amur and Astrakhan regions, Kabardino-Balkarian and Karachay-Cherkess Republics, Bashkiria, Dagestan, Yakutia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Kalmykia , North Ossetia, Stavropol, Transbaikal and Khabarovsk territories, as well as in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug).

Under the terms of the agreement, SberMobile subscribers will also receive more favorable international roaming conditions, relying on MegaFon’s network, which covers 584 operators in more than 200 “countries and territories.” There are also plans to jointly develop a set of services for SberMobile’s corporate clients. In addition, the companies plan to expand the geography of their joint presence in Russia by the end of the year.

SberMobile began operating in September 2018 on the Tele2 network (see “Kommersant” dated September 26, 2018). “As part of the partnership, MegaFon will become our second supporting operator, which will allow SberMobile to obtain the status of a federal operator,” SberMobile told Kommersant. They added that they plan to develop services for B2B and B2G, Internet of Things and digital solutions for enterprises. The company refused to provide data on the size of its subscriber base; in 2019, SberMobile said that it was 500 thousand people.

MegaFon refused to disclose the terms and financial terms of the cooperation. The virtual operator Yota already operates on the company’s network.

A similar partnership operates between MTS and Tinkoff Mobile (see “Kommersant” dated May 26, 2023). Under its terms, MTS will provide the necessary infrastructure for Tinkoff Mobile to operate in 17 regions of Russia, including the Amur, Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod regions, Trans-Baikal, Khabarovsk territories, etc. It was also assumed that the companies would consider “the possibility of integrating a wide range of Tinkoff ecosystem services” and MTS.” MTS refused to comment on the results of cooperation.

Tele2 is now present in all regions, but does not have its own network everywhere, operating on the terms of free national roaming, explains Content Review head Sergei Polovnikov: “There is a possibility that MVNO operators operating on the Tele2 network can officially launch only in those regions where there is a company network. This may be due to the peculiarities of allocation of numbering capacity; it is tied to regions.” For this reason, the expert believes, MVNOs are beginning to enter into partnerships with other federal operators.

“By also negotiating with MegaFon, SberMobile gets the opportunity to expand coverage to regions where Tele2 is not present,” says Alexey Boyko, an analyst at the abloud62 Telegram channel. SberMobile services less than 1% of Russian mobile subscribers, says managing partner of TMT Consulting Konstantin Ankilov. “But the company has great potential, since Sberbank has a client base that is an order of magnitude larger than the number of mobile users,” the expert believes. “They are now expanding the network to increase the attractiveness of the service for existing subscribers and expand the subscriber base.”

Yulia Tishina, Alexey Zhabin