MTS will launch his own messenger

MTS announced the launch of the MTS Connect messenger, designed to exchange messages and calls. Moscow users of devices based on iOS and Android will be able to download and install the MTS Connect since December 14, and later residents of other regions will be able to use the application.

According to Vedomosti , the program is based on the Global Standard RCS (Rich Communication Services). According to the representative of MTS Dmitry Solodovnikov, the costs of implementing the standard amounted to about 100 million rubles.

Using MTS Connect, users will be able to make IP calls using mobile Internet access or WiFi, exchange personal messages and files, participate in group chats. For calls and sending messages, the operator promises to charge the same fee that is provided for in the subscriber for a mobile phone in the home region, and mobile traffic within Russia will be free.

Identification in the application will be carried out using a mobile phone number, and the contact list will be loaded from the smartphone's notebook. At the same time, it will be possible to call and send messages not only to MTS Connect users, but also to all other subscribers: in this case, the call or message will be transmitted through ordinary telephone channels.

The company does not count on the massive influx of Skype and WhatsApp users, but they hope to attract new subscribers to the use of mobile Internet. According to Solodovnikov, the potential audience of MTS Connect is calculated by tens of millions of smartphone owners who have not yet used instant messengers.

As for the plans of other "Big Three" operators in this area, as CNews notes, MegaFon already has its own messenger - "Multiphone", but it does not support the RCS standard. The Vimpelcom is considered more effective to develop partnership with existing messengers. For example, recently the operator launched a shares of traffic in the WhatsApp application.