| Cellular operators are now competing in the area of discounts Cellular operators have entered a new stage of the struggle. If earlier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and VimpelCom (Bee Line brand) raced to reduce prices, now they compete in the field of discounts and bonuses. At the same time, the cost of a minute fluctuates within a few cents.
VimpelCom announced yesterday the introduction of new tariff plans that will replace the entire “metal” system (“Platinum”, “Silver”, etc.). According to the first deputy general director of the company, Nikolai Pryanishnikov, now it will be easier for consumers to navigate the cellular product, since the names of the new plans speak for themselves. For example, the “You and I” tariff is intended for family users, “Leader” is for managers of large companies who can spend about $100 per month on communications.
Experts immediately began to compare VimpelCom’s new tariffs with the old MTS ones. In the new “Professional” of VimpelCom, the subscription fee is $5, the cost per minute is $0.19 (excluding VAT). In “Economy” MTS, the subscription fee is the same, and a minute costs $0.18.
This circumstance gave rise to MTS Marketing Director Igor Timofeev in an interview with the Vremya Novostei newspaper to state that VimpelCom simply copied tariff plans from a competitor: “For example, “You and I” is a parody of our “Molodezhny”, only it even more expensive. Everything else is also copied from us, and it still turns out more expensive.” At the same time, representatives of VimpelCom claim that in the same “You and Me” the discount per minute of conversation can be up to 50% in total, and therefore it will be cheaper. Which company has better tariffs will be determined by market demand. Polina ZVEREVA |
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