For the sins of MTS and Beeline, Megafon will answer

The Federal Antimonopoly Service Commission (FAS) on Thursday issued a verdict on the complaint of the Association of regional cellular operators on the actions of the “big three” mobile companies - MTS , VimpelCom (Beeline) and MegaFon . From July 1, after the cancellation of the charge for incoming calls to cell phones, the Big Three operators decided to increase the tariffs for inter-operator payments several times and introduce simultaneously bulk discounts for each other. As a result, the latter began to pay for the call to the MTS subscriber from the VimpelCom subscription at a rate of 0.95 rubles per minute, while for the same subscriber from the network, for example, the Volga operator SMARTS , MTS began to receive 1.1 rubles per minute. This inequality did not suit the small cellular companies that filed a complaint with the FAS.

According to the results of the consideration of the case, the FAS recognized the fact of violation by the “big three” of the Law “On Competition”. However, the proceedings against MTS and VimpelCom were immediately terminated. Back in September, VimpelCom proposed a compromise version , which was approved by the Association. Literally the other day, the “world” one went to MTS. Thus, the order to eliminate violations of the law will be sent only to Megafon.

A spokesman for MegaFon, Marina Belasheva, said that the company had not yet seen the text of this prescription. “Depending on what is specifically required of us, we will decide on further actions,” explained Ms. Belasheva. “It’s possible that we will be forced to go to court.” “For us, the FAS decision looks twofold,” says Ekaterina Osadchaya, a spokeswoman for VimpelCom. - On the one hand, we do not agree with the fact that we were recognized as having violated the law. But, on the other hand, we are pleased that the FAS prescription will not be sent to us. ”
')
The Association of regional cellular operators believe that they have managed to achieve their own. According to its chairman, Yuri Dombrovsky, the essence of the agreements with MTS and VimpelCom comes down to managing a transition period, in which all payments between operators will be carried out at a uniform rate of 0.95 rubles / min. At the end of these periods, tariffs may again become differentiated, but the decision on granting discounts to one or another operator will have to be made not at the federal, but at the regional level. This should protect regional operators with strong positions in their regions. “The difference between the two agreements is that VimpelCom will provide discounts to operators depending on the amount of traffic between them, while MTS will depend on its balance,” explained Mr. Dombrowski. “In addition, the transition period for settlements with VimpelCom ends on January 1, and with MTS it has already ended on October 1.”