Further, but cheaper

Another way to avoid roaming charges

A special service for subscribers of mobile communication companies allows you to reduce the cost of calls when traveling around Russia several times. The service cannot be called new (it has been in effect since spring), but most of us are not even aware of it, preferring to pay our operator for long-distance communication much more than it really costs.

Interregional Transittelecom (MTT), one of the first long-distance operators alternative to Rostelecom, provides everyone with the service “Long-distance and international communications using a virtual telephone card.” The service is designed specifically for mobile phone owners. Several days of using it convinced me of the feasibility of such a service.

The essence of the proposal is relatively humane prices for calls to other cities in Russia, including to mobile phones in all regions. For example, 1.77 rubles. per minute of call to Moscow cellular networks and 3.0 rub. -- to all cellular networks in Russia, 1.85 rubles. - to landline phones in St. Petersburg. At first glance, it’s not very interesting; in any tobacco kiosk there are telephone cards with more favorable rates. But this is only at first glance. A radical advantage of the MTT card is the availability of a toll-free number +7-800 to log into the system. These numbers are also free for calls from a mobile phone. We do not pay our operator anything for such calls from a cell phone. And this feature completely changes the price picture for the mobile user, turning the virtual card into an extremely profitable service for the user.

A virtual MTT card can be purchased and topped up only from Megafon operator phones by sending an SMS to a short number. Each such message tops up your virtual card account by 71 rubles, the money is debited from your personal account (it is impossible to buy a virtual card from other cell phones). However, after purchasing a virtual card (i.e. pin code), it can be used to make calls from any mobile and landline phones. Having received a pin code, when making calls, dial 8-800-333-53-02 (login), your pin code and the telephone number of the desired subscriber. This entire long combination of numbers will have to be entered only once to be memorized in a cell in the phone book.

Since calls to 8-800 are free from anywhere in Russia, you only need to pay for the call at MTT rates. No additional expenses in the form of the cost of calls at roaming rates. When traveling, each such conversation turns out to be three to four times cheaper than a regular call from a mobile phone, and without compromising the quality of the connection. Another plus: when you call, your phone number is honestly displayed on the recipient's display - the interlocutor will recognize you even before he picks up the phone.

The virtual card can also be used in your home region for regular calls from a mobile phone, in this case you also save money. Three to six rubles per minute of conversation are the usual prices for Moscow mobile operators, and when calling through a virtual card it turns out to be almost half that. For those who talk a lot, mobile operators offer more favorable tariffs, but a virtual card allows you to ignore the most important principle of operator business: the less money you spend on communications, the more expensive a minute of conversation costs. The use of such a solution does not look entirely fair in relation to the “native” mobile operator, but the market is the market: no one forbids cell phone companies from setting inflated prices, and you and I from using alternative offers.

The MTT virtual card looks like a suspiciously lucrative offer. And indeed, certain shortcomings are inherent in it. The main disadvantage is some discomfort and additional inconvenience. Purchase a pin code (and only from a single mobile operator), enter a combination of two dozen numbers into the phone’s address book, top up a virtual card account, etc. The dialing time increases by 15-25 seconds; dialing the subscriber does not happen the first time. Especially in the evenings and on weekends, when MTT offers preferential rates and long-distance calls are cheaper. Before purchasing a virtual card, you should decide whether these circumstances are worth putting up with in order to save money.

Sergey POTRESOV