Does MTS roaming work when traveling in Russia and abroad?

When going on a business trip around the country or on vacation abroad, additional configuration of your phone to work on a network outside your region is of great importance. To reduce the cost of cellular communications, this issue should be addressed in advance. The tariff from MTS Unlimited when roaming in Russia will help you choose the most suitable option.

Calls to other countries

Changes in MTS roaming from 2021

Mobile operator MTS has made significant changes. Roaming within the network within the territory of the Russian Federation was cancelled. These changes cannot be considered a complete cancellation; we are talking about a reduction in tariff rates for the services provided. The mobile company has set new prices for incoming and outgoing calls, SMS and Internet traffic. Tariffs for roaming within the territory of the Russian Federation from April 2021 are as follows:

As can be seen from the table, the cost of services in national roaming has decreased significantly. At the beginning of 2021, internal network roaming within the Russian Federation became free. When calling MTS subscribers located in the same area, tariff prices of the home region are applied. But the downside is that all incoming calls to your within-network number from your region of residence are charged at a separate rate. It turns out that if you use MTS Unlimited roaming in Russia, it is not entirely profitable to receive daily calls from family and friends.

Options for traveling around Russia

To save money on your phone balance, if you do not use one of the above offers, you can activate additional services before traveling. For national roaming, the operator offers 5 such options. Most often, you have to use them after the main packages have been used up.

Home package

Created for short-term stays outside the native region. The cost is 10 rubles every day. For this amount you can spend minutes and SMS from the main volumes at the tariff not only on the numbers of the subject of your stay, but also on all phones in the Moscow region. A subscription fee is charged only if calls or messages are sent within 24 hours. You can activate or deactivate the service using the command *111*743#.

Everywhere is like home Russia

The function provides the ability to make calls to local or long-distance phones at a single price. Subscription fee 5 rubles/day. All calls, regardless of direction, will cost 3 rubles per minute. You can activate the option using the combination *111*528# or in your Personal Account. The same methods are used to disconnect.

In addition to profitable calls, the service includes 100 SMS per day. They need to be used up within 24 hours. Otherwise, the remainder of the package will burn out at the end of the day. The function does not interact with other optimizing options for roaming. Subscription fee for 5 rubles/day.

Home package+

If you are going on a long trip around the country or will be living in another region for some time, the “Home package Russia +” option is ideal. Its cost is 100 rubles monthly. Each billing period is written off on the date of joining the service. In comparison with the offer of the same name with daily payment, the benefit per month will be about 200 rubles. Activation or deactivation is carried out through your personal account or USSD portal upon request *111*128#.

The service is intended for users of the “Smart” line. As part of the offer, minutes and messages from packages will be spent not only on numbers in the region of residence, but also on phones in the Moscow region and other regions of the country. The conditions are preserved not only in the MTS network, but also when registering in the networks of other mobile operators. This function is one of the few offers that is valid even in the territory of Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea. Mutually exclusive with similar contracts.

Feel like home everywhere Smart Top

The option is optimizing and mandatory for the “Smart Top” tariff plan. You cannot turn it off yourself. There is no subscription fee. When roaming in Russia, 10 GB of traffic is valid. Calls to any numbers in the country are spent from 2000 basic free minutes. Above this volume, the cost of calls will be:

• intranet calls to a household subject – 0 rub.;
• other telephones in the Moscow region - 2 rubles;
• MTS Russia – 5 rubles;
• incoming calls are not charged.

Correspondence in roaming is also included in the basic package at the rate of 2000 SMS. After this number expires, SMS to Moscow phones will cost 50 kopecks per message, and messages to MTS in all regions will cost 3.8 rubles.

SMS packages

If you write more often than call when traveling, then it will be more profitable to activate SMS packages. They are presented in 2 versions:

1. 50 free messages for 135 rubles. Connect through your Personal Account or USSD request *111*124#.
2. 100 SMS for 180 rubles. Activation using the combination *111*125#.

Packages are valid for a month from the moment of connection. After this period, unused balances are burned. The offer is valid for both private subscribers and corporate clients.

MTS roaming within Russia is not always accompanied by constant debiting of money. To save money when traveling around the country, check your tariff plan before leaving and, if necessary, enable optimizing options.

Features of canceling roaming on the “My Unlimited” tariff

Tariff changes to eliminate fees for intra-network roaming came into force at the end of February 2021. Now, when leaving your region, prices for a set number of minutes, SMS messages and the volume of Internet traffic will remain at the level of your home region. The main changes will affect incoming and outgoing calls when communicating with subscribers connected to other cellular operators.

Ultra

The company's premium plan is Ultra. It includes the maximum number of packages for further use. It is suitable for people who do not want to limit themselves in communication. Effective parameters:

• 20 GB of traffic included.
• 5000 min offered.
• 5000 SMS provided.
• Cost – 2900 rubles.

The plan is valid throughout the country. Even when traveling to the regions, the same conditions remain the same. The downside of this TP is the SMS package. Most subscribers will not be able to use even half of the messages; this technology is being replaced by modern services.

The program is the most expensive in the company's line. It was created for clients who want to immediately receive significant amounts of minutes and traffic for comfortable use.

Internet on Smart Unlimited

For subscribers connected to the MTS Smart Unlimited tariff before January 22, 2021, roaming in Russia will be a lower amount if you connect an additional package during your trip.

There are two ways to save:

1. Home package Russia. 15 rubles are withdrawn per day. All incoming calls are free, Internet consumption is within the tariff limits. The option is beneficial for those subscribers who have left their home region for a short time. To connect, dial *111*743# and dial.
2. Home package plus. Subscription fee is 100 rubles per month. In order not to overpay in roaming for access to the Internet and the use of cellular communications, the option will allow you to save significantly when traveling for a long time. To connect you need to press *111*128# and the call button.

International roaming

Calls abroad are not a cheap pleasure, but even here MTS has prepared special packages that will help you save money.

Roaming abroad with MTS Unlimited tariff

When leaving Russia, you need to take care of the settings for accessing the Internet. The phone will not be able to automatically switch to the country in which the subscriber is located.

Before traveling, you must activate or “International and national roaming”. Connection is carried out only for subscribers who have been using communication services for more than a year or have topped up their account with 500 rubles monthly for six months. To connect you will need to press *111*2192#.

For beginners there is another one. The service is activated automatically. To check, you can see its availability in your personal account.

Additionally, MTS offers connecting options to save money when making calls and accessing the Internet. At a certain amount, the subscriber uses communication services at the same cost as at home.

Nuances

Roaming is a service that appeared immediately after the construction of networks. Due to the high costs of equipment, companies wanted to receive an additional source of income. For many years, the state allowed subscribers to make money by providing them with a non-existent service.

What is roaming really? This is a transfer to the network of another operator with whom the company has an agreement. If a company does not have its own infrastructure in the region, then it requests services from a partner. Naturally, this option is much more expensive.

But when traveling around the country, the subscriber simply switches between MTS local networks. The company does not need to pay for the services of partners; it is enough to correctly configure the equipment to make calls. Therefore, national roaming does not exist as such.

In 2021, the FAS insisted on completely disabling the service. The companies agreed to the terms but created a transition period. During this period, tariff plans without restrictions on calls while traveling are gradually being formed.

It is possible that the service will be completely disabled in 2021. But for now the company offers a number of special tariffs for customers.

Bit abroad

Using the option requires using the Internet without restrictions. Depending on the amount of traffic consumed, you can choose the option Bit (450 rubles), Maxi (700 rubles per day) or Super Bit (1600 rubles per day). Restrictions apply to some countries. If you exceed the limit you will have to pay extra.

You can activate the service as follows:

• *111*2222#;
• *111*2223#;
• *111*2224#.

MTS is a large company providing communications throughout the world. Many subscribers use the services thanks to free calls within the network and favorable tariffs. The use of additional services and options allows regular users not to increase their expenses in intercity or abroad.

Smart TOP

This is a top tariff that includes everything you need. What conditions apply under the TP:

• Cost – 1950 rubles per month.
• 3000 mines are issued throughout the country.
• There are 3000 SMS in the home region.
• 20 GB of traffic is provided.
• There are no restrictions on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The key advantage is the absence of additional AP when roaming. Even if you go on a trip to another region, the prices remain the same. This fact will make the TP quite profitable for a number of subscribers.

The downside is the presence of 3000 SMS. The company continues to sell the package filling service, although it is not popular. Most subscribers do not need so many messages; they use instant messengers for communication.

MTS tariffs for calls in Crimea

The well-known Russian operator could not ignore the residents of Crimea after the republic annexed to Russia. Now anyone can connect to MTS for just 50 rubles . As a gift, he will receive 20 free minutes for calls within his home region . In addition, according to the terms of the Crimean tariff:

• a call to a Ukrainian MTS number in your home region will cost 2.5 rubles/minute ;
• a call to a subscriber of another mobile or landline phone of a Ukrainian operator - 10 rubles/minute ;
• SMS to an MTS subscriber within Russia – 1.5 rubles;
• SMS within Russia to other operators – 6.5 rubles;

To make calls from Crimea to other regions of Russia, you need to activate a special function. By dialing *111*101*7# on the phone, an MTS client living in the republic will be able to call his relatives living in another city for only 3.5 rubles per minute . Connecting and deactivating the option is free, but once a month a subscription fee for its use in the amount of 50 rubles .

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