The MegaFon operator has launched its own application for making calls and sending messages via the Internet, eMotion, company representatives announced at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday, May 25. The company does not disclose the amount of investment in the project. The service works via Wi-Fi or mobile Internet.

Using the service, you can call both other eMotion users and any phone numbers, said Vyacheslav Isaikin, director of IP services at MegaLabs (a subsidiary of MegaFon, which developed the application). According to him, this is the main difference between the service and existing instant messengers, which allow you to talk only with users who have downloaded the application (for example, WhatsApp).

Calls via eMotion will be paid: 0.8 rubles. per minute of conversation with a MegaFon subscriber, 1.5 rubles. — to other numbers around the world. Moreover, if the subscriber uses a package tariff, then you will have to pay separately for calls via eMotion. In addition, the operator will charge for traffic if the client calls using the mobile Internet and not Wi-Fi. Sending messages to eMotion users will be free, and the price of SMS to other numbers will be set depending on the subscriber's tariff.

The Skype service has the ability to call regular phones. Although conversations between messenger users are free, calls from Skype to mobile and landline numbers are charged. Calls, for example, within Russia, cost from 2.3 to 10 cents per minute (about 1.5–6.6 rubles), as follows from the information on the Skype website. Users of the Viber messenger can also make phone calls; calls cost from 3.2 to 6.3 rubles. in a minute. MegaFon is not going to compete with other messengers, says Isaikin, but adds: “calls to a landline number will cost less than other services.”

MegaFon has already attempted to create a messenger. In 2011, the operator created the MultiFon application for calling other service users. The number of active users of the application reached 200 thousand in 2015, but now MegaFon managers have decided that it is outdated. MultiFon will cease to exist, and its current users will be “transferred” to the new service. The main differences between eMotion and MultiFon are the ability to write messages and a “user-friendly interface,” Isaikin said.

MegaFon is not the first Russian operator to launch its own messenger. In December 2015, MTS announced a new service: the application is called MTS Connect, calls and messages in it are also paid - their cost corresponds to subscriber tariffs, but Internet traffic is not charged. MTS invested more than 100 million rubles in the project.

MegaFon launched a messenger with paid calls