Important results of 2011
This topic is not an annual report, but a mention of the most interesting and important facts for IT specialists about the activities of Beeline in 2011.
Here is a brief summary of the important points:
')
Beeline's policy is maximum openness, predictability and consistency in the provision of services. There were two important points that cause discomfort to subscribers: these are costs for WAP connections and unobvious pricing of premium domains. In fact, both categories (as well as subscription services through paid SMS, which will be discussed later) can be categorized as payments, which, on the one hand, generate revenue for the operator, and, on the other, cause difficulties for subscribers. Beeline always chooses the comfort of end users in such cases. Below - specific actions.
For a long time, WAP was the only way to access the Internet from mobile phones with a small display, modest memory and low productivity. As more modern phones began to dominate the network, the content of mobile sites changed: there was more multimedia content. Modern phones do not need a "translator" (which was a WAP gateway) and can download regular websites almost like a desktop browser. Now mobile Internet users are owners of modern phones for whom there is no need for WAP technology, the existence of high WAP prices is no longer justified. As a result, in August 2011, it was decided to abandon the special cost of WAP traffic. For wap.beeline.ru and internet.beeline.ru access points, the cost of the transmitted or received data is the same and is equal to the cost of Internet traffic within the current subscriber tariff plan.
The product Services with Premium Traffic Tariffing was launched at the end of 2008. At that time, the task was to make a convenient tool to pay for content without additional actions, for example, without sending paid SMS. However, soon websites with “premium traffic rating” turned out to be among the outsiders in terms of transparency and predictability. Despite the obligatory informing about the cost, subscribers do not always understand how much and for what they will pay. And, even knowing the cost per 10 Kb of traffic, it was impossible to predict in advance how much the downloadable content (for example, a music file) would “weigh”.
Surely you remember the materials on Habré and a number of other resources with information about abuses: in particular, they talked about iframe inclusions, banners and images from premium domains and other tricks. As a result, the company management decided to completely abandon the premium pricing of mobile Internet resources.
Since April 25, Beeline has turned off the traffic premium rating: now, when you go to any website from your phone, you can be completely sure that you will pay for your traffic according to your tariff plan (or you will not worry about traffic at all when unlimited).
In 2011, it was possible to significantly reduce the number of fraudulent actions by identifying "bottlenecks", work with which has improved the situation. The main actions are as follows: a new monitoring system, obligatory confirmation by the subscriber of services via paid SMS, increasing requirements for aggregators and simplifying the ability to report a problem.
One of the rather popular ways of fraud is phishing subscriptions to paid services. Since July 2011, a special confirmation page has been added to all services on short numbers, where information on the cost, methods of connecting and disconnecting the service is posted. The page is located on the Beeline platform and is controlled by the operator. All content providers must add this page to their services. If there is no such page, then it is qualified as a violation.
Previously, there was a problem with the fact that services with a regular subscription, for example, to the cinema schedule, were one-time monthly subscription fee. And the money could be written off at the most inappropriate moment for the subscriber and immediately for the full amount - 100-300 rubles. Now the mechanism of payment for using the service has changed: transactions are limited to 20 rubles per day: this means that the amount of probable damage for fraud or a random subscription is reduced - the subscriber sees the cancellation and can take action in time.
In the first half of 2011, a system for monitoring all services on short numbers was introduced, plus more stringent sanctions were introduced against unscrupulous partners. In the second half of 2011, 18 short numbers were suspended, the service prefixes were blocked more than 200 times until the shortcomings were corrected or the circumstances of violations were clarified. Returns to subscribers on established facts of fraud amounted to about 2 million rubles.
If you think that you are "bred", you can report this:
A verification of complaints by subscribers against fraud by third parties led to blocking 4,300 federal numbers (on average, 180 numbers per week).
This is not news, but since we are talking about security, we once again remind you that the recommended first step in protecting elderly relatives and children from mobile fraud and simply reckless buying services on short numbers is the Black and White Lists service , which allows you to create a selective access to content provider numbers. This is necessary, for example, in order for a child or grandmother, seeing a short number on TV or in a newspaper with a tempting offer to buy a melody or download a picture, could not do it.
UPD : Calling 0858 and pressing key 3 blocks all four-digit services.
One more step - you can always check in advance the actual cost of services on short numbers by sending an SMS with a “?” Sign to this number. Both services are free.
In the topic of countering mobile fraud there are more details on the topic as a whole.
One of the company's strategic objectives is to “deliver” Internet access to as many people as possible. Coverage of new cities with cable access allows you to do it in the traditional way, plus this year we managed to significantly increase the penetration of the mobile Internet due to “zero” zones.
Mobile demo versions with free access (“zero” zones) are specially developed versions of mobile sites that are available to Beeline subscribers free of charge from a mobile phone. These are lightweight counterparts of the mobile version, and page loading is faster: for example, there are no graphics in these versions. When switching to the paid version, the subscriber is warned about this action.
Now there are: 0.Vkontakte.ru, 0.Facebook.com, 0.Livejournal.com, 0.gazeta.ru - throughout Russia, m.E1.ru (Ural) and m.1777.ru (Stavropol). Also, the subscriber can receive free SMS-alerts from social networks Vkontakte, Facebook, Mail.Ru, My World, Mamba, Odnoklassniki, Livejournal, Twitter. Both for mobile access and similar SMS, the subscription fee is not taken, there is no connection fee and there is no fee as far as using the service (regardless of the number of SMS and traffic to 0 sites).
Interestingly, from 15% to 30% of zero-zone users did not use the mobile Internet before the advent of the service.
This year, two new Ericsson mobile switches were commissioned in Moscow, and the capacity and coverage of the existing GSM network was increased. The availability of voice services and data transmission speeds in 2G / 3G networks increased by 20%.
At the end of December 2011, the 3G network covered 100% of the territory of the capital. By the summer of 2012, it is planned to provide 3G coverage in the Moscow Region. Here is a network construction map .
Of course, such a development of the network also required increasing the capacity of the infrastructure: after all, with an increase in 3G coverage, packet traffic always grows. In general, the specifics of the region are in a high concentration of subscribers, the rapid growth of voice and packet traffic. In 2011, more than 250 kilometers of fiber-optic communication lines were built, work was done to back up its own backbone channels, Alcatel's Metro Ethernet Network equipment was installed, and the capacity of the DWDM network was increased. The result is a plus of 300% to the volume of possible packet traffic in the capital.
Over the past year, another 11 stations appeared connected, plus another 60 stations - 3G-coverage. In general, Beeline is carrying out a lot of work in the metro, and a number of projects cannot yet be publicly covered, but attentive habra users already know what this is about.
Wired Home Internet "Beeline" appeared in more than two thousand homes in the Moscow region: this is a record year for the development of FTTB networks. At the same time, the network speed in MO has doubled.
Home Internet has appeared over the year in another 100 cities of Russia, with more attention being paid to the emergence of access in satellite cities and large settlements near those cities in which the service already operated.
Along with the Internet, digital TV penetration is growing. For the year, 34 more cities were connected to Beeline home digital television, they launched the ability to view TV channels via Xbox 360, plus they launched new interactive applications for Beeline TV - Odnoklassniki, Vkontakte, Facebook and Twitter. About how TV works in general, you can read here in this topic.
In the first topic, we started recruiting beta testers for new hardware and new services. To our great surprise, at the time of the start of service tests for smartphones, it turned out that many IT specialists who volunteered to help use fairly simple phone models (yes, just those that can break the floor), but often have tablets for reading mail and other tasks. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the phone should give the fastest possible response, perhaps - with the need for a long time not to recharge the device. Anyway, if this also applies to you, it would be interesting to hear your opinion: it seems that this state of affairs is becoming a trend.
This year habrayuzer Rodweb, PycoBeg, Oduvanchik, Francyz, MachtFrei, Mrhard, BOOMik, inkvizitor68sl and RZK333 helped us a lot . They and other test participants received various buns from regional offices of Beeline.
Many of the wishes voiced in the discussion of our topics on Habré were taken to work. As usual: the process is not fast, but the whole construct that was obtained is somehow used in decision making. The dialogue turned out to be two-way: we get excellent feedback, and the community asks questions on which technical specialists of the company prepare topics.
In the comments to this topic questions are taken that will be separate topics. And in the comments you can sign up for beta testers of hardware, software and services: when a new equipment or (more often) a new service enters a beta stage, we will write in a personal and ask if you want to participate in the tests. It is enough just to note in the comments that you are interested in it - and we will contact sooner or later. Yes, if you don’t have a city in your profile, please indicate it in the comments too.
The closest testing is the Parental Control service, which is designed, for example, so that the child can only find cats on the pussy request. For tests, we invite users of the Beeline Home Internet in Moscow: if you read us on Habré, we believe that you can suggest dozens of ways to bypass the filters. All test participants are provided with free internet access for 2 months. You can record in the comments and through the "questions to the company", if you are not registered.
PS I remind you that you can send bug reports to the “company questions” or to pomogite@beeline.ru - this is how all requests are put under control and processed faster.
Here is a brief summary of the important points:
- Cancel WAP-rating.
- No more premium domains.
- There were "zero" zones for large sites.
- Moscow is covered by 3G at 100%, the region will be covered by early summer. In the subway, too, there are serious advances in coverage.
- Home Internet has appeared in another 100 cities of the Russian Federation, and television - in another 34.
- Habr's readers have already really influenced a number of decisions within the company.
')
Money or customer focus?
Beeline's policy is maximum openness, predictability and consistency in the provision of services. There were two important points that cause discomfort to subscribers: these are costs for WAP connections and unobvious pricing of premium domains. In fact, both categories (as well as subscription services through paid SMS, which will be discussed later) can be categorized as payments, which, on the one hand, generate revenue for the operator, and, on the other, cause difficulties for subscribers. Beeline always chooses the comfort of end users in such cases. Below - specific actions.
WAP rating
For a long time, WAP was the only way to access the Internet from mobile phones with a small display, modest memory and low productivity. As more modern phones began to dominate the network, the content of mobile sites changed: there was more multimedia content. Modern phones do not need a "translator" (which was a WAP gateway) and can download regular websites almost like a desktop browser. Now mobile Internet users are owners of modern phones for whom there is no need for WAP technology, the existence of high WAP prices is no longer justified. As a result, in August 2011, it was decided to abandon the special cost of WAP traffic. For wap.beeline.ru and internet.beeline.ru access points, the cost of the transmitted or received data is the same and is equal to the cost of Internet traffic within the current subscriber tariff plan.
No more premium billing: all domains are the same
The product Services with Premium Traffic Tariffing was launched at the end of 2008. At that time, the task was to make a convenient tool to pay for content without additional actions, for example, without sending paid SMS. However, soon websites with “premium traffic rating” turned out to be among the outsiders in terms of transparency and predictability. Despite the obligatory informing about the cost, subscribers do not always understand how much and for what they will pay. And, even knowing the cost per 10 Kb of traffic, it was impossible to predict in advance how much the downloadable content (for example, a music file) would “weigh”.
Surely you remember the materials on Habré and a number of other resources with information about abuses: in particular, they talked about iframe inclusions, banners and images from premium domains and other tricks. As a result, the company management decided to completely abandon the premium pricing of mobile Internet resources.
Since April 25, Beeline has turned off the traffic premium rating: now, when you go to any website from your phone, you can be completely sure that you will pay for your traffic according to your tariff plan (or you will not worry about traffic at all when unlimited).
Security
In 2011, it was possible to significantly reduce the number of fraudulent actions by identifying "bottlenecks", work with which has improved the situation. The main actions are as follows: a new monitoring system, obligatory confirmation by the subscriber of services via paid SMS, increasing requirements for aggregators and simplifying the ability to report a problem.
Mandatory page to confirm the subscription to the service
One of the rather popular ways of fraud is phishing subscriptions to paid services. Since July 2011, a special confirmation page has been added to all services on short numbers, where information on the cost, methods of connecting and disconnecting the service is posted. The page is located on the Beeline platform and is controlled by the operator. All content providers must add this page to their services. If there is no such page, then it is qualified as a violation.
Transaction Size Limit
Previously, there was a problem with the fact that services with a regular subscription, for example, to the cinema schedule, were one-time monthly subscription fee. And the money could be written off at the most inappropriate moment for the subscriber and immediately for the full amount - 100-300 rubles. Now the mechanism of payment for using the service has changed: transactions are limited to 20 rubles per day: this means that the amount of probable damage for fraud or a random subscription is reduced - the subscriber sees the cancellation and can take action in time.
Monitoring system
In the first half of 2011, a system for monitoring all services on short numbers was introduced, plus more stringent sanctions were introduced against unscrupulous partners. In the second half of 2011, 18 short numbers were suspended, the service prefixes were blocked more than 200 times until the shortcomings were corrected or the circumstances of violations were clarified. Returns to subscribers on established facts of fraud amounted to about 2 million rubles.
Special channels for customer complaints about fraud
If you think that you are "bred", you can report this:
- By phone 0611;
- Leave a comment on the portal www.safe.beeline.ru;
- By pomogite@beeline.ru;
- The work accepts messages from all major social networks (including from the “Questions for the company” section on Habré).
A verification of complaints by subscribers against fraud by third parties led to blocking 4,300 federal numbers (on average, 180 numbers per week).
Black and white lists
This is not news, but since we are talking about security, we once again remind you that the recommended first step in protecting elderly relatives and children from mobile fraud and simply reckless buying services on short numbers is the Black and White Lists service , which allows you to create a selective access to content provider numbers. This is necessary, for example, in order for a child or grandmother, seeing a short number on TV or in a newspaper with a tempting offer to buy a melody or download a picture, could not do it.
UPD : Calling 0858 and pressing key 3 blocks all four-digit services.
One more step - you can always check in advance the actual cost of services on short numbers by sending an SMS with a “?” Sign to this number. Both services are free.
In the topic of countering mobile fraud there are more details on the topic as a whole.
More people on the Internet
One of the company's strategic objectives is to “deliver” Internet access to as many people as possible. Coverage of new cities with cable access allows you to do it in the traditional way, plus this year we managed to significantly increase the penetration of the mobile Internet due to “zero” zones.
“Zero” zones
Mobile demo versions with free access (“zero” zones) are specially developed versions of mobile sites that are available to Beeline subscribers free of charge from a mobile phone. These are lightweight counterparts of the mobile version, and page loading is faster: for example, there are no graphics in these versions. When switching to the paid version, the subscriber is warned about this action.
Now there are: 0.Vkontakte.ru, 0.Facebook.com, 0.Livejournal.com, 0.gazeta.ru - throughout Russia, m.E1.ru (Ural) and m.1777.ru (Stavropol). Also, the subscriber can receive free SMS-alerts from social networks Vkontakte, Facebook, Mail.Ru, My World, Mamba, Odnoklassniki, Livejournal, Twitter. Both for mobile access and similar SMS, the subscription fee is not taken, there is no connection fee and there is no fee as far as using the service (regardless of the number of SMS and traffic to 0 sites).
Interestingly, from 15% to 30% of zero-zone users did not use the mobile Internet before the advent of the service.
100% Moscow 3G coverage
This year, two new Ericsson mobile switches were commissioned in Moscow, and the capacity and coverage of the existing GSM network was increased. The availability of voice services and data transmission speeds in 2G / 3G networks increased by 20%.
At the end of December 2011, the 3G network covered 100% of the territory of the capital. By the summer of 2012, it is planned to provide 3G coverage in the Moscow Region. Here is a network construction map .
Of course, such a development of the network also required increasing the capacity of the infrastructure: after all, with an increase in 3G coverage, packet traffic always grows. In general, the specifics of the region are in a high concentration of subscribers, the rapid growth of voice and packet traffic. In 2011, more than 250 kilometers of fiber-optic communication lines were built, work was done to back up its own backbone channels, Alcatel's Metro Ethernet Network equipment was installed, and the capacity of the DWDM network was increased. The result is a plus of 300% to the volume of possible packet traffic in the capital.
Beeline in the subway
Over the past year, another 11 stations appeared connected, plus another 60 stations - 3G-coverage. In general, Beeline is carrying out a lot of work in the metro, and a number of projects cannot yet be publicly covered, but attentive habra users already know what this is about.
Home Internet in 100 cities
Wired Home Internet "Beeline" appeared in more than two thousand homes in the Moscow region: this is a record year for the development of FTTB networks. At the same time, the network speed in MO has doubled.
Home Internet has appeared over the year in another 100 cities of Russia, with more attention being paid to the emergence of access in satellite cities and large settlements near those cities in which the service already operated.
Along with the Internet, digital TV penetration is growing. For the year, 34 more cities were connected to Beeline home digital television, they launched the ability to view TV channels via Xbox 360, plus they launched new interactive applications for Beeline TV - Odnoklassniki, Vkontakte, Facebook and Twitter. About how TV works in general, you can read here in this topic.
About Habr
In the first topic, we started recruiting beta testers for new hardware and new services. To our great surprise, at the time of the start of service tests for smartphones, it turned out that many IT specialists who volunteered to help use fairly simple phone models (yes, just those that can break the floor), but often have tablets for reading mail and other tasks. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the phone should give the fastest possible response, perhaps - with the need for a long time not to recharge the device. Anyway, if this also applies to you, it would be interesting to hear your opinion: it seems that this state of affairs is becoming a trend.
This year habrayuzer Rodweb, PycoBeg, Oduvanchik, Francyz, MachtFrei, Mrhard, BOOMik, inkvizitor68sl and RZK333 helped us a lot . They and other test participants received various buns from regional offices of Beeline.
Many of the wishes voiced in the discussion of our topics on Habré were taken to work. As usual: the process is not fast, but the whole construct that was obtained is somehow used in decision making. The dialogue turned out to be two-way: we get excellent feedback, and the community asks questions on which technical specialists of the company prepare topics.
- The first topic was autonomy: this is the base stations on solar batteries , the Internet on the ship , and the mobile base station on Kamaz .
- There was a chain of answers to simple questions about well-known, but at the same time, many incomprehensible things: home femtocells ( one , two ), Blackberry (by the way, you can now update them and access the Internet via Wi-Fi), LTE and contactless payments .
- After discussing the topic of cellular work in the topic, we decided to add a hardcore and, at the request of habrazhiteli, pick up the SIM card , tell and still tell about the new data center and its architecture, and drove away with the brigade , told about network expansion ( Amur ).
- The most popular topic of the blog was a story about radiation from base stations and foil hats .
In the comments to this topic questions are taken that will be separate topics. And in the comments you can sign up for beta testers of hardware, software and services: when a new equipment or (more often) a new service enters a beta stage, we will write in a personal and ask if you want to participate in the tests. It is enough just to note in the comments that you are interested in it - and we will contact sooner or later. Yes, if you don’t have a city in your profile, please indicate it in the comments too.
The closest testing is the Parental Control service, which is designed, for example, so that the child can only find cats on the pussy request. For tests, we invite users of the Beeline Home Internet in Moscow: if you read us on Habré, we believe that you can suggest dozens of ways to bypass the filters. All test participants are provided with free internet access for 2 months. You can record in the comments and through the "questions to the company", if you are not registered.
PS I remind you that you can send bug reports to the “company questions” or to pomogite@beeline.ru - this is how all requests are put under control and processed faster.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/136973/
All Articles