Cellular operators of Russia are losing money due to the drop in tourist flow abroad

Russians are less likely to go abroad, preferring to rest in the country. The number of subscribers of the Big Three, using roaming when traveling abroad, in May and June of the year 2015 decreased by 20%.

At the same time, the Big Three operators recorded an increase in the number of users in Russian domestic roaming: for MTS subscribers this index increased by 7%, for VimpelCom - by 12% (from May to June), for MegaFon - by 6% ( May).

In addition to reducing the number of subscribers on trips abroad, the operators noted the desire of Russians to save when going abroad. So, MTS subscribers began to use less voice services and less often send SMS, the volume of outgoing messages decreased by 33%, and voice traffic - by 31% (compared to the same period of 2014 of the year). VimpelCom subscribers in international roaming in May and June also talked less “voice” and less often sent messages.

When traveling around Russia, on the contrary, there is an increase in the consumption of all available types of communication services. For example, the volume of SMS sent by MTS in May and June of 2015 increased by 7%, and voice traffic - by 15%, said the representative of the operator. MegaFon and VimpelCom did not provide similar data.