All about cellular communication in Crimea

Going on a trip outside your hometown, you should definitely find out how things are with mobile communications at the point of destination. There are important aspects not only in the situation with abroad, but even when traveling to Crimea.

Communication in Crimea does not work quite in the format to which the residents of Russia are accustomed. For example, on the peninsula, in principle, Megafon, as well as Beeline and Tele-2, are not represented. Still wanting to stay with the existing operator, visitors will have to activate the roaming service to the existing SIM card. Since in such conditions current tariffs and promotions are not used, communication becomes very expensive. Of the common all-Russian companies in Crimea, only MTS catches.

On the peninsula, you will be able to easily purchase a SIM card and activate the services available when traveling in your home region. In addition, the Crimean territory has its own operators. We are talking about companies such as Crimeatelecom, Volna and K-telecom, whose second name looks like Win mobile.

MGTS provides for Crimean subscribers packages of the Smart line, which include all the necessary services. Smart mini, upon purchase, offers 1 gigabyte of Internet, 200 messages and 100 minutes of calls within the network. Incoming calls to subscribers of other operators will be free, and outgoing calls will have to pay 12 rubles for 60 seconds outside the territory and 1.5 rubles within the region. SMS for this mobile tariff will require about 2 rubles.In addition, on the territory of the peninsula it is possible to connect Smart and Smart unlimited tariff plans. Both of them provide more gigabytes, minutes and sms.

Any other tariff that does not belong to the Smart line cannot be used in Crimea. In principle, during the trip, you can use the "Guest" rate. It allows you to communicate for free with users of a similar tariff, but pay for other services approximately 1.5 rubles per 60 seconds. A useful option is "Like at home everywhere" - it makes all incoming calls free of charge, and other services are paid in accordance with the tariff plan.

As far as Megafon is concerned, the phone connection in roaming is pretty good. There is a profitable option "Crimea", the payment of which is 15 rubles per day. At the same time, incoming calls will be free, and for outgoing calls you will have to pay about 5 rubles in 60 seconds. The cost of one SMS message will not exceed 3 rubles, but the payment for the Internet will be 5 rubles per megabyte. In addition, the option "All Russia" is relevant, thanks to which it will be possible to communicate at a home rate. Megaphone roaming costs 55 rubles per minute of communication.

Beeline cannot be called a cheap or profitable connection, because the only way to use it is to connect to roaming. The bills after the trip are often several thousand rubles.

Tele-2 also works only in roaming. Although the connection is satisfactory, the internet is extremely slow. Both incoming and outgoing costs are 5 rubles per minute, and the cost of SMS is 3 rubles 50 kopecks. For a megabyte of Internet, the user will have to pay 5 rubles. Recently, such an operator as Yota, which also operates in the Crimea in a roaming format, has been popular. The cost of incoming calls is 9 rubles per minute, and the cost of outgoing calls is 19 rubles per minute. The cost of SMS reaches 19 rubles, and a kilobyte of the Internet will cost 9 rubles.

Win mobile offers vacationers a special rate called "On the sea". According to him, incoming calls are free, and outgoing calls cost 3 rubles per minute, and throughout Russia. Using 10 megabytes of the Internet will cost only 10 rubles. It makes sense to immediately connect the "Big Country" option. Both incoming and outgoing calls within the country will cost 2.95 rubles per minute.

Operator Wave there is an opportunity for 150 rubles to get 300 free minutes per month, intended for calls throughout the Krasnodar Territory and, of course, the Crimean peninsula. Calls in the all-Russian zone will be 3 rubles per minute. As for Krymtelecom, it is not a popular operator for vacationers in Crimea and often calling abroad. To call any city in Russia, you have to pay 5 rubles per minute, but there is also half an hour of free time for on-net calls.

Sevmobile provides the tariff "My city", the price of which for 30 days is 180 rubles. It makes it possible for one and a half hours to communicate free of charge in the region, and pay 3 rubles for 60 seconds for communication in the cities of Russia.

Mobile Internet in Crimea without any conditions is provided only by local operators. Win mobile offers both 3G and 4G. This operator is the most popular, since all Russian companies can connect to it by roaming. Wave mobile works in a similar way. Sevmobile provides the territory of Sevastopol with 3G, and Krymtelecom provides this service to the entire peninsula.

Megafon gives its customers the opportunity to go online on the peninsula, but only with the activation of a special action "Internet in Crimea". It is included in the package of certain tariff plans and costs 99 rubles for 60 megabytes. In addition, the operator allows you to connect the service of unlimited incoming calls in Crimea, the price of which is 33 rubles per day.

MTS in Crimea is tied to a region called Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Adygea. It has several tariffs that combine unlimited calls to the operator's subscribers, SMS, calls and Internet packages. Alternatively, purchasing a new SIM card for 300 rubles gives 3 gigabytes of Internet per month, as well as 200 SMS and 200 minutes of calls within the region. Users of a different tariff can activate the SuperBIT Smart option, which will give 3 gigabytes for 30 days when paid equal to 10 rubles per day.

Other operators have different conditions for connecting the mobile Internet. The specifics are determined depending on the company and the tariff paid, but the price is often very high. The exception is the company Win mobile, presented in Crimea with its equipment. The "Online Freedom" tariff will allow unlimited use of the worldwide network, paying only 3 rubles. For connecting the service, you will have to pay at most 30 rubles.

In the case of Beeline, it makes sense to connect either the "Internet Planet" option, or "The most profitable Internet in roaming". They will be automatically connected when the device, being in the roaming zone, will go online. The cost of access will be 9.95 rubles per 1 megabyte, while the minimum session size will be 50 kilobytes.

It is important to mention that operator offers such as "30 days of the Internet for traveling in Russia", as well as "7 days of the Internet for traveling in Russia" in Crimea will not work. Instead, there will be a per-megabyte billing, implying a payment of 9.95 rubles per 1 megabyte.

Relatively recently, a law was adopted according to which Russia will abolish all national and intranet roaming from June 1, 2019. This law will make it possible to establish a tariff plan that will operate throughout the country and thus pay the same for communication anywhere in the territory.

In principle, there are already restrictions on roaming, But from the summer of 2019, operators will be required to charge the same amount from subscribers, regardless of where they are located. As for the situation with Crimea, the law will significantly lower the cost of calls to those subscribers who pass through the peninsula.

Paying for mobile communications in Crimea is as easy as in other parts of Russia. Most of them are paid online, subject to availability credit card of any bank in Russia. For example, to pay for Win mobile, all you have to do is go to the operator's website and follow the instructions on it. In this case, no commission will be charged.

Any common cards are suitable for online payment - for example, VISA, MasterCard, Maestro or MIR. The sent amount is credited when either the mobile phone number or the personal account, which can be found in the subscriber's agreement, is indicated.

The optimal choice of the operator is determined depending on how you have to use the SIM card: how often to call, whether to make calls across the region or across the country, whether to access the Internet, or send SMS. Holders of the MTS card do not have to worry at all and do not change it, having arrived in Crimea.However, if the purchase is still to be made, and the main factor is the Internet connection, then the choice should be made between Crimetelecom and Win mobile. The cost in the first case will be 150 rubles, which will be equivalent to 5 gigabytes, and in the second case, you will have to pay 250 rubles for 10 gigabytes.

For cellular communication and the Internet in Crimea, see the video below.