The operators explain the increase in tariffs by the increase in costs
Photo: Evgenia GUSEVA
Mobile operators began to warn about tariff changes in the New Year. About which ones it is clear: the fee, of course, will not decrease, rather the opposite.
MegaFon clients have already received notifications of changes to the terms of service of several “old” tariffs from January 16 to March 31. Some of them also received SMS with more specific information – the fee will increase by an average of 50-55 rubles, or about 10%.
But such an informative message hangs on the official website of Tele2: “Tele2 informs about changes in the parameters of a number of services and archival tariff plans after December 30, 2022. Detailed information about the changes will be sent in a personal SMS notification.
The operators explain the increase in tariffs by the growth of costs to “maintain high-quality communication”, including the purchase of equipment and its operation.
There is no doubt that other cellular operators have the same problems. Does this mean that everyone should prepare for an increase in the price of communication services? And how much?
Let’s go back a bit to the past. In the spring of this year, the Ministry of Digital Development and the Federal Antimonopoly Service decided that operators can change tariffs at the level of inflation, Eldar Murtazin, a lead analyst at Mobile Research Group, reminded a KP correspondent. – Official inflation in 2022 will be around 12%. In other words, the maximum rate increase is the same 12%. Until now, on average, operators change them by 10-10.5%, someone a little more on individual tariffs. This is less than the inflation rate, they leave a reserve.
According to the analyst, mobile rate growth is unlikely to be instantaneous, across all rates, across the country. As is often the case, the line will change gradually, so as not to scare users too much.
Many, for example, are now receiving offers from their carriers to switch to a “better rate,” priced slightly lower than the current rate, but with an optimized set of services. For example, unlimited Internet remains unlimited only for instant messengers.
This, by the way, is a question that worries many: whether in the current conditions it will be necessary to completely say goodbye to unlimited Internet. And also – for the same reasons that operators refer to, including possible problems with equipment and its maintenance – with the usual quality of communication?
-Unlimits began to be canceled in November-December of last year. They are closed for new connections. If we talk about such tariff plans, where they are, then they are gradually moving to the “packet” Internet. This process will continue in 2023, predicts Eldar Murtazin. – Regarding the talk about the degradation of the quality of communication services, this will not happen for sure within the next year.
This is how the subscription fee for a cellular service package grew
(January to January of the previous year,%)
2018 +6.5%
2019 +1%
2020 +2%
2021 +5.4%
2022 +5.1%
