The department believes that the companies did not comply with the requirement to cancel internetwork roaming. The operators themselves expressed bewilderment at the decision of the FAS, explaining that the disputed tariffs have already been corrected. FAS roaming

Based on the results of tariff verification, FAS found that the cost of incoming and outgoing calls in intranet roaming is overstated. In addition, operators have introduced a daily fee for subscribers outside the home region. If following the results of consideration of cases, the department reveals violations of the antimonopoly legislation, the operators may be obliged to transfer to the budget the revenues received as a result of the violation.

In the second half of January, the antimonopoly service already sent an explanation to MTS about the inadmissibility of worsening the situation of consumers of communication services and the absence of economic reasons for this. FAS found that the operator began to charge a fee of 15 rubles per day if the subscriber left the home region – on the tariff plans, which before this fee was not provided. In addition, MTS introduced, according to the FAS, an unreasonably high fee for incoming calls from the home region to other regions.

FAS ordered operators to implement a warning before December 15, that is, in effect, to refuse internetwork roaming. The operators then said that they needed to change hundreds of tariffs, which would take at least six months.

As a result, the agency postponed the deadline for the execution of the order until the end of January 2018 for MegaFon, VimpelCom, and MTS; until the end of May this year – for Tele2. FAS roaming

About FAS Russia FAS roaming

FAS Russia, or the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation, is a regulatory agency responsible for overseeing the competition and preventing monopolistic practices in the Russian market. In addition to its competition-related functions, FAS Russia also plays a role in regulating certain industries, including telecommunications.

In 2017, FAS Russia introduced new regulations on roaming services in Russia. The regulations aimed to lower the cost of mobile roaming within Russia and increase competition among mobile network operators. The main provisions of the regulations included:

1. The introduction of a “Roaming Cap” limits the amount that mobile network operators can charge for roaming services. The cap is set at 3.5 rubles per minute for voice calls, 1 ruble per SMS message, and 5 rubles per MB of data.
2. The requirement for mobile network operators to provide free incoming calls while roaming within Russia.
3. The introduction of a “Roaming Profile” allows customers to select a preferred roaming plan before traveling. This helps customers to avoid unexpected charges while roaming.
4. The requirement for mobile network operators to provide transparent and detailed information about roaming charges to customers.

Overall, these regulations are aimed at improving the affordability and transparency of mobile roaming services in Russia, which should benefit both consumers and businesses who rely on mobile communications while traveling within the country.