Which mobile operator is better. Named the worst and best mobile operators in Russia in terms of the quality of the Internet and communications

Many Russian citizens actively criticize mobile operators for poor quality of service, slow mobile Internet, high prices, communication problems, unexpected debits and connection of unnecessary services. Yes, perhaps the operators MTS, Beeline, MegaFon and Tele2 are really not the most honest in relation to the Russians, but their quality of service is at a very high level, the TelecomDaily agency came to this conclusion.

This analytical agency conducted a study in Russia in November 2017 in order to assess the quality of coverage, mobile Internet speed and, of course, the quality of voice communications. The study involved four operators from the "big four", that is, "MTS", "Beeline", "MegaFon" and Tele2. As a result, after testing, foreign experts were amazed at the quality of services provided by all four of these operators.

As stated on their website, they drove over 2,500 km across Russia in a special vehicle that is equipped with measuring equipment. According to them, it emulates the work of modern smartphones, but at the same time captures all indicators every few seconds. When the testing was completed and the results were calculated, the experts hurried them to the European operators. In the end, there was no limit to their surprise.

In particular, the worst mobile operator in Russia in terms of the total number of indicators was Tele2, which has the highest latency (ping) and a number of other disadvantages, but it also has a number of advantages, which were not enough to outperform its main competitors. As a result, experts identified the following advantages for all cellular Russian cellular operators:

"MTS"

Maximum speed in 3G networks
Minimum ping (latency)
Good sound quality

"Beeline"

The highest average speed in 3G networks
Maximum speed in 4G networks

"Megaphone"

The most stable connection
Maximum average speed in 4G networks
The highest speed in 4G networks
Minimum number of breaks in voice communication
Low connection time - dialing to the subscriber in a few seconds

The highest average speed in 4G networks
Maximum average speed in 3G networks

If the same indicators are declared for operators, then this means that their indicators are within the error range from 0 to 10%. Thus, according to the combination of qualities, MegaFon was recognized as the best operator, which provides the most stable connection to the network, the minimum number of interruptions during telephone conversations and many other features. The second place was taken by MTS, which turned out to be significantly better than Beeline in terms of the quality of advanced sound within the framework of voice services. The third position was taken by Beeline.

As for the worst operator, it turned out to be Tele2. The experts were able to find out that it has the highest average speed in 4G networks and the highest average speed in 3G networks. In other words, its Internet is extremely fast, but the connection stability and coverage leave much to be desired. Although this did not play any role in the study, the cost of his services is the lowest among all the others.

It is noted that the quality of mobile Internet in Russia is generally significantly higher than in Europe. This applies not only to the stability of the connection, but also to the speed of downloading information. In addition, Russian citizens have access to better voice services, while in Europe things are much worse.

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The best mobile operator must show the optimal combination of coverage area, Internet speed, voice quality and low prices. The specified parameters for MTS, Beeline, MegaFon, Tele2 and Yota vary. Nevertheless, this does not prevent to identify the best of them.

MTS and its features

This mobile operator has the largest subscriber base in Russia. Its networks are available in all Russian regions. The choice of subscribers is provided with a variety of tariff plans and high-speed Internet access as part of numerous options. Compared to other companies, communication prices seem high. But the quality of services is quite high.

Advantages of MTS:

Powerful coverage across the country.
High speed mobile internet.
Good voice quality.

Disadvantages:

A rather confusing set of tariffs and services - it is difficult to understand this diversity.
Poor quality of phone support – according to an unofficial user rating, his hotline is performing badly.
Often there is a "gurgle" when transmitting voice over 2G networks.

As of 2018, it is the largest operator in Russia.

MegaFon, its pros and cons

A positive feature of MegaFon is a reasonable compromise between the quality of services and their cost. It catches almost everywhere, in terms of the size of the client base, it ranks second. Advantages - competent technical support for users, balanced tariffs with unlimited services and powerful sets of minutes and traffic, high speed mobile Internet, good coverage in the suburban area (as of 2018, MegaFon has become a leader).

There are some shortcomings, but not the most serious. It is worth noting the complexity of the old tariff options and services - only a specialist can understand them. The confusion is clearly visible on the official website of the operator, where the data on some pages may not match the data on others. The misunderstanding is caused by the fact that there are no MegaFon networks in some mountainous areas, although the operator has repeatedly stated the opposite. The last minus is the lack of sane tariffs without a monthly fee.

A little about Beeline

This operator is better than others in that it transmits voice well - for calls it is more than great. Speech is transmitted clearly, even if one of the handsets is registered in second generation networks. If you need to choose a SIM card for a simple mobile phone, feel free to take Beeline. Also, subscribers note a good Internet speed - VimpelCom often boasts about the expansion of the number of base stations and its own stability. Prices after the commissioning of the VSEMOOE line became profitable and pleasant.

Unlimited calls within the tariff, which do not affect the main package of minutes on the above line, are the main advantage of the operator.

Beeline has a couple of serious shortcomings. In urban areas, it will work great. But as soon as you leave the city, the connection disappears somewhere. Also, the network is absent in small settlements, where with a high probability there are networks of the two competitors described above. The quality of support is average, not very bad, but not very good either. Another disadvantage is the mass transfer of subscribers to new tariffs, due to which the operator has "tarnished" its reputation - it is quite possible that this may happen again.

What to say about Tele2

This operator appeared in Russia one of the last. For a long time it was present only in a limited number of regions. Even today, its networks are far from being caught everywhere - national roaming works here. The main advantage of Tele2 is its affordable tariff scale. His cell phone service is cheap. Therefore, it is often called a discount operator. But this did not stop him from increasing prices in tariffs and making options more expensive.

The fullness of tariffs with services is the main advantage of Tele2. The combination of the subscription fee and the number of included packages is better than that of competitors. Separately, I would like to note the Internet packages for modems, which include large volumes of Internet traffic. The next advantage is the automatic transfer of remaining minutes to the next month. It is impossible not to note the operation of exchanging minutes for traffic, although this possibility is also implemented by another operator - Beeline.

The quality of support for Tele2 is average. Specialists can solve any problem, but they do it somehow reluctantly. Gentle, gentle pressure is needed to get the result. Self-service services are lame - the personal account is utterly confusing and uninformative. Another disadvantage is poor coverage outside of settlements.

Cellular operator Iota

The main advantage of Iota is unlimited Internet for tablets and modems. This operator was the first to introduce unlimited social networks and instant messengers. True, removing unlimited Internet for phones is a big minus that subscribers cannot forgive for more than two years. The most striking drawback is the strange attitude towards the expansion of the coverage area. Iota, a subsidiary of MegaFon, uses its towers (virtual cellular operator - MNVO). But the coverage does not match - in some cities it is not, despite the presence of MegaFon. There is complete confusion on this issue.

findings

The best mobile operator is a vague concept. Someone has a good connection, someone has unlimited Internet, and someone boasts a wide coverage area. When choosing an operator, you need to focus on his performance where you visit most often - this is a place of work, your own home, your favorite vacation spot. It is also necessary to pay attention to the tariff policy.

About ten years ago, the question of which operator is better sounded completely different. There was a rigid binding that did not allow changing the operator without changing the number. A few years ago, the MNP system (the abolition of "mobile slavery") was launched in Russia - the link disappeared. With your number, you can now switch to any cellular company in just 8 days.

When choosing an operator, be guided by the needs:

Quality calls - choose Beeline or MegaFon.
Reliable coverage - MTS and MegaFon.
Good Internet - MegaFon, MTS.
Affordable prices - Tele2, Iota.
Unlimited Internet - Iota.

Not the last role is played by personal preferences and trust in a particular brand. New operators, such as Tinkoff Mobile, Let's talk from Sberbank and many others, have not yet received proper distribution. They often inherit the shortcomings of those companies whose infrastructure they use for their work.

Dozens of daily calls, hundreds of reasons to go online - this has long been a part of our daily lives. And if, as a rule, there are no significant problems with calls within Russia and not only, then things are not so good with mobile Internet. This article will consider the advantages and disadvantages of some major Russian operators, namely, their Internet access services.

Which telecom operator is the best for the Internet - Megafon

Being one of the leaders in its segment, Megafon tries to use only the most modern equipment, for example, equipment that provides access to 4G mobile Internet. It should be noted that the equipment of the previous generation is also used by the company.

If there are no problems within the city when accessing the Internet, then some interference begins behind it. To eliminate this problem, the installation of special base stations in the area is required. It is Megafon that directs a large number of its forces to equip even the most sparsely populated areas with such bases. And this is a plus of this operator.

3G - 5 mgb/s;
4G - 50 mgb / s.

Minimum fare:

From two hundred rubles for 500 MB of traffic. As a conclusion from the previous paragraphs, the Internet speed from the Megafon operator, in most cases, remains high, regardless of your location. But it also follows that the prices for services will not be the lowest.

Which telecom operator is the best for the Internet - Beeline

Average speeds in Moscow:

3G - 6 mgb/s;
4G - 45 mgb / s.

Minimum fare:

From two hundred rubles for 1 GB of traffic.

As the results show, mobile Internet from Beeline in the capital is pretty good. The services of this operator can be safely used if you plan to use them in the city or at a short distance from it.

Which telecom operator is the best for the Internet - MTS

Relative to previous competitors, this representative of the "Big Three" has the smallest network coverage area. Therefore, the Internet speed in sparsely populated areas may be slow. This operator does not burden its customers with various promotions and tariff plans of various categories. But as statistics show, many users speak unflatteringly about the Internet services of this operator. Most often, problems occur outside the city limits.

Of the advantages, a large number of tariffs can be distinguished.

Average speeds in Moscow:

3G - 3 mgb/s;
4G - 40 mgb / s.

These are average figures relative to other operators.

Minimum fare:

Two hundred and twenty rubles for 500 MB of traffic. At the moment it is the most expensive mobile Internet operator.

Which telecom operator is the best for the Internet - Tele 2

This operator has the smallest number of base stations in Russia. As a result, communication with the Internet is subject to some failures and interference. Be sure to take into account the lowest cost of tariffs.

The minimum cost of the tariff: 100 rubles for 2 GB of traffic.

Internet speed in Moscow:

3G - 20 mgb / s;
4G - 40 mgb / s.

It's just that the huge speed of 3G compared to other operators is really surprising, and this at such a low cost.

Conclusion

As it turned out, Megafon can be safely called the leader in this segment. For not the highest cost, you will get high-quality and fast Internet connection anywhere. Tele 2 surprises customers with the profitability of its offer, so it will be a great option for the city. Beeline can also be attributed to the most profitable and high-quality operators, but only in the city. MTS turned out to be the most unprofitable and low-quality operator of all. Be sure to say that the indicators and cost of services in different regions of the country may differ.

Be sure to say that the indicators and cost of services in different regions of the country may differ.

When choosing a mobile tariff, it is important to get the benefit and spend the amount that justifies the services received. Consider the rating of mobile operators in Moscow in 2017. After all, up-to-date information for the outgoing year will help you make the right choice in the next.

Iota takes first place in the rating of mobile operators in Moscow in 2017.

Benefits: offers customers to order a SIM card online and deliver it by courier for free. This saves time, because you don’t have to go to the communication salon and draw up a card there.

Iota also made it possible to create an individual tariff plan. This approach is liked by a young audience, because it provides unlimited access to frequently used social networks, and you do not need to pay for extra minutes and SMS.

And most importantly - the availability of unlimited Internet. This is the only operator that does not limit its customers in terms of traffic on a tablet or computer.

Unfortunately, Iota canceled the unlimited on the smartphone.

Tele 2 provides one of the most favorable tariff plans. In addition to low prices, it actively boasts of the service of saving and exchanging SMS and call packages if they have not been fully used. Although not only this mobile operator in Moscow has such a function, it still gives an undeniable advantage.

According to Roskomnadzor, mobile operators in commercials do not always provide complete information. Tele 2 was seen to remain silent about certain conditions in only one video. This puts him in second place in the rankings for honesty. However, you should still be careful and check the conditions additionally.

Megaphone. According to Roskomnadzor data for 2017, Megafon took first place in terms of communication quality and Internet speed in Moscow and other cities.

However, netizens often complain about the unreasonable withdrawal of money from the account. Megafon employees try to quickly solve problems that arise and the amounts are eventually returned.

It is worth carefully studying the conditions so that in the future such incidents do not arise.

Beeline. Customers note a deterioration in the quality of communication, but the number of towers that VimpelCom managed to build in its best times gives a wider coverage compared to other operators. If in big cities, such as Moscow, this is not noticeable, then in towns and villages it is felt.

Beeline also offers convenient and inexpensive tariff plans, however, customers have already heard complaints about the opacity of withdrawing money from the account. Call center employees are certainly polite, but dialing can take more than one hour. This is probably one of the reasons why Roskomnadzor considered Beeline the worst mobile operator.

MTS often "keeps it quiet" to its customers and does not provide full information about tariffs. This also applies to commercials filmed in 2017.

That is why clients, not possessing all the completeness of information, unfortunately, sometimes suffer losses. Therefore, before joining MTS, read the terms and conditions.

But MTS also has advantages, including: high-quality communication and equipment for its provision, convenient tariffs with unlimited Internet access. MTS was the first in Russia to introduce mobile video communication. Roskomnadzor put MTS in second place in terms of the quality of cellular communications in 2017, which is a good result.

On a five-point scale, we would rate the following:

Operator	Price	Quality	Honesty	final grade
Iota	5	5	5	5
Tele 2	5	3	4	4
Megaphone	4	5	3	4
Beeline	4	3	3	3,3
MTS	3	4	2	2,3

MegaFon has the best 4G coverage in Moscow among the Big Three operators, although the gap with competitors is small, Content Review analysts found out. The companies themselves questioned the methodology of the study

First in three

The Content Review agency analyzed the coverage of 4G networks by Russian operators of the "big three" - VimpelCom (Beeline brand), MegaFon, MTS. The Content Review study is based on December 2015 data from Opensignal, which collects information from users who have downloaded its app in the background. Analysts considered the capital region, limited on a map of 50x50 km in size - this is the territory of Moscow and the nearest suburbs, the author of the study and editor of Content Review Sergey Polovnikov explains the choice of such parameters.

The result of the study is the calculation of what part of the study area is covered by 4G networks for each of the Big Three operators. As a result, the leader was MegaFon, whose 4G network coverage density is 32.2%. “The company's leadership among the Big Three is due to the fact that MegaFon was the first to build 4G networks in Moscow and the region, which is why the company managed to get ahead,” says Polovnikov. As of the end of the third quarter of 2015, MegaFon had 6,000 base stations with LTE support in the capital and the region, according to the company itself.

The second place in the study was occupied by the MTS operator with an indicator of 30.9%, the third - Beeline with a result of 28.8%. Neither MTS nor Beeline disclose the number of base stations. Tele2, the fourth operator by the number of subscribers in Russia, which launched in the capital region on October 22, 2015, is not included in the Content Review study. “Data on the coverage of Opensignal service networks become relevant and understandable after about a year of measurements,” Polovnikov explained.

Within the Moscow Ring Road, all three operators show similar results, in the capital they are trying to provide maximum coverage, said Polovnikov. But outside the administrative boundaries of Moscow, carrier coverage differs more, as they pay unequal attention to one city or another, he explained. When planning the construction of its networks, the company relies on the analysis of "big data" in order to develop communications where it is really needed, Anna Aibasheva, a representative of VimpelCom, told RBC.

The Opensignal application has been downloaded by users around the world about 15 million times, the service does not publish separate data on users in each region. At the same time, only in Moscow and the region, as of the end of September 2015, operators served 41.3 million SIM cards, Vedomosti wrote with reference to AC&M-Consulting.

Differing in ratings

Analysts interviewed by RBC did not conduct studies similar to Content Review, and found it difficult to assess the coverage of 4G networks of Russian operators. It would be more correct to conduct such a study not throughout Moscow and the region, but only where people really live or are located, then the coverage rate from 30% would increase to 70-80%, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of the Telecom Daily agency. However, in his opinion, the results of the Content Review study are correct.

“It is difficult to comment on the study, since the methodology is incomprehensible,” said Yulia Dorokhin, a representative of MegaFon. She only noted that the operator's fourth-generation network "provides continuous coverage not only in Moscow and nearby satellite cities, but also in 80 other cities of the Moscow region."

Representatives of MTS and Beeline questioned the correctness of the research methodology of the Content Review agency.

“According to the description of the methodology, Opensignal collects information on coverage only in those places visited by its users. It turns out that where they do not exist, there is no coverage, and we cannot agree with this, ”said Aibasheva. As of the end of the third quarter, Beeline’s 4G networks were available to more than 90% of the population of Moscow and 25-30 % of the region's population, she said.

MTS representative Dmitry Solodovnikov agrees with Aibasheva. The Content Review study only takes into account data from a limited number of devices on which the Opensignal application is installed, and therefore cannot reflect network coverage by operators, Solodovnikov said. According to him, subscribers independently assess the quality of communication, "without relying on" independent measurements "that do not provide real information about mobile Internet speeds or communication quality." The 4G network of MTS operates on more than 95% of the territory of the capital inside the Moscow Ring Road, Solodovnikov said.

However, in assessing the best coverage by 4G networks in the capital region, representatives of MTS and Beeline disagreed. According to Aibasheva, it is at " Beeline » the best 4G coverage in Moscow and in the area up to the Moscow Small Ring zone: she refers to a study by DMTEL conducted in December 2015. An MTS representative claims that MTS has the best 4G coverage in Moscow “due to the use of multi-band networks.” “This, in particular, is evidenced by our comparative tests of coverage and mobile Internet speeds,” Solodovnikov said.

Moscow in the lead

The Content Review agency, based on Opersignal data, analyzed 4G coverage not only in Moscow and the region, but also in the metropolitan regions of nine other European countries - Great Britain, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary and Ireland. The choice in Content Review was explained by the "availability of official operator maps of 4G network coverage."

The results of the study showed that the coverage density in Moscow and the nearest cities of the Moscow region is several times higher than the coverage density in the capitals of other countries.

In addition, Content Review found that the official coverage maps of European operators and the real situation are "very different." For example, the Vodafone operator in Berlin claims 89.4% coverage, but research has shown that coverage does not exceed 11.7%. In Prague, the same operator reports coverage of 94.2%, but the study found that coverage was only 7.7%. “In Russia, operators exaggerate coverage much less than their European counterparts,” Polovnikov said.