As the world’s largest country, the Russian Federation has a lot of ground to cover when it comes to mobile infrastructure. In Q1 2018, data from Speedtest Intelligence® shows that Russia ranked 78th in the world, between Malaysia and Chile, for mean download speed over mobile. This ranking places Russia ahead only of Belarus and the Ukraine in Europe. For upload speed, Russia ranks 91st, between Indonesia and Argentina. Change is on the horizon, though, with network improvements resulting in a 14.3% increase in mobile download speed that pales in comparison to the boost in speeds the country could see once 5G projects are realized .
After being the first carrier in Russia to launch VoLTE in 2016, MegaFon has continued deploying various advanced LTE technologies in preparation for 5G. By applying Massive MIMO on a single 20 MHz-wide cell typically capable of 150 Mbps with 2x2 MIMO, MegaFon and Huawei were able to achieve 800 Mbps sector capacity without adding any additional spectrum . Equipped with this knowledge and Huawei’s expertise, MegaFon was able to reach peak speeds of 35 Gbps in a 5G test in St. Petersburg Petersburg in June 2017 using 2 GHz of bandwidth in the 70 GHz “E-Band”. In addition, MegaFon has successfully launched Gigabit LTE in Moscow using 60 MHz of spectrum (1800 MHz, 2600 MHz) and enhanced with 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM . Presumably these improvements will also benefit Yota, a subsidiary of MegaFon.
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has been addressing capacity demand in major metropolitan areas by performing software upgrades on its base stations that double the peak speeds of the existing spectrum (1800 MHz and 2600 MHz). By deploying the “trifecta” of advanced LTE features (Carrier Aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM), MTS can provide more capacity, wider usable coverage area and decrease the power consumption at the base station by up to 50% . By aggregating the TDD LTE spectrum assets (2600 MHz) on top of the existing FDD LTE anchor (1800 MHz), MTS is able to improve the spectral efficiency of the 2600 MHz frequency band and therefore provide higher peak and average speeds. In preparation for 5G, MTS and Ericsson successfully completed field trials using 15 GHz spectrum that reached peak speeds of 25 Gbps .
Along with a variety of spectrum and infrastructure sharing agreements throughout many regions, Beeline (VimpelCom) has started testing LTE in the Unlicensed spectrum in partnership with Huawei. This move is in preparation for 5G and the upcoming wave of internet of things (IoT) enabled objects. These partners also announced equipment readiness for Five Channel Carrier Aggregation (5xCA) using a total of 55 MHz of spectrum (800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2600 MHz), 256 QAM as well as four-transmit, four- receive (4T4R) radio operation. Together, these improvements allowed Beeline to achieve peak user speeds over 1 Gbps .
As a follow up to piloting inter-site carrier aggregation back in 2016 , Tele2 has implemented a wide range of solutions such as Self-Optimized Network (SON), Wi-Fi calling and a continued expansion of its coverage footprint using low band 450 MHz and 800 MHz frequency bands. In a joint field trial with Nokia, Tele2 demonstrated a 5G test using Nokia AirFrame systems coupled with AirScale technology in the 4.5 GHz band . This trial used an 8x8 MIMO configuration.
country speeds
In Q1 2018, Russia’s mean download speed over mobile was 16.26 Mbps, a 14.2% increase over that in Q1 2017. The mean upload speed for mobile was 7.44 Mbps, up 18.7% over Q1 2017.
Fastest carriers
Data from Speedtest Intelligence® reveals MegaFon was the fastest carrier in Russia in Q1 2018 with a Speed Score of 21.97 on modern devices. MTS was the second fastest, Tele2 the third fastest and Beeline the slowest.
Speed Score
When analyzing fastest carriers, we consider top carriers (all carriers with 3% or more of total test samples in the market for the period). We then determine the fastest carrier using Speed Score which incorporates a measure of each provider’s download and upload speed to rank network speed performance (90% of the final Speed Score is attributed to download speed and the remaining 10% to upload speed). The Speed Score uses a modified trimean to demonstrate the download and upload speeds that are available across a provider’s network. We take speeds from the 10th percentile, 50th percentile (also known as the median), and 90th percentile, and combine them in a weighted average using a 1:2:1 ratio, respectively. We place the most emphasis on the download speeds and median speeds as those represent what most network providers’ customers will experience on a day-to-day basis.
Speedtest® coverage
Speedtest results across Russia follow a pattern that mirrors the country’s population density with the largest quantity of tests taking place in the Northwest, Central, South, North Caucasus and Volga federal districts. MegaFon shows the densest results pattern with second place MTS showing sparser results in the South federal district. Beeline's results are sparser still, followed by Tele2.
Regional mobile speeds
Mean mobile download speeds vary widely across Russia’s 83 federal subjects. The five fastest subjects (Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Murmansk Oblast, Yaroslavl and Saint Petersburg) are split between the Central and Northwest federal districts. The five slowest subjects (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Kamchatka Krai, Voronezh Oblast and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, respectively) are all over the map, including the Far East, Northwest, Central and Ural federal districts.
Fastest carriers by city
Q1 2018
| city | Citywide Download (Mbps) | Citywide Upload (Mbps) | Fastest Carrier | Speed Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moscow | 23.09 | 8.90 | MegaFon | 38.38 |
| Krasnoyarsk | 18.78 | 8.72 | MegaFon | 24.20 |
| Saint Petersburg | 18.62 | 10.27 | MegaFon | 23.61 |
| Ufa | 18.48 | 9.28 | MegaFon | 22.01 |
| Chelyabinsk | 17.22 | 8.18 | MegaFon | 28.25 |
| Omsk | 15.81 | 7.77 | MegaFon | 24.46 |
| Samara | 15.30 | 8.25 | MegaFon | 16.97 |
| Yekaterinburg | 15.23 | 7.17 | MegaFon | 21.56 |
| Perm | 14.48 | 7.18 | MegaFon | 21.09 |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 14.43 | 5.52 | MegaFon | 20.60 |
| Novosibirsk | 14.35 | 6.49 | MegaFon | 23.49 |
| Rostov-on-Don | 13.85 | 5.30 | MegaFon | 23.13 |
| Kazan | 11.61 | 5.49 | MegaFon | 16.29 |
| Volgograd | 11.53 | 6.51 | MegaFon | 17.61 |
| Voronezh | 8.84 | 4.28 | MTS | 11.24 |
Looking at Russia’s fifteen most populous cities, Moscow is the fastest with a mean download speed over mobile of 23.09 Mbps during Q1 2018. Krasnoyarsk, Saint Petersburg and Ufa form a tight group to rank second, third and fourth fastest respectively. Russia’s slowest city, Voronezh, showed a mean mobile download speed of 8.84 Mbps. The second and third slowest cities, Volgograd and Kazan, showed speeds of 11.53 Mbps and 11.61 Mbps, respectively.
Of all the cities we analyzed, MegaFon is the fastest carrier in the fastest Russian city. They are also the fastest in an additional 13 of the 15 most populous cities in the country. MTS is the fastest carrier in Voronezh.
Conclusion
Russian mobile speeds have some catching up to do if the country wants to compete with speeds in the rest of Europe. But large investments by Russia’s major providers could soon close the gap, at least in the country’s more densely populated western half. MegaFon is the fastest carrier in the country and in 14 of Russia’s 15 largest cities. MTS is the fastest in one city. We’re interested to check back in after 5G is implemented to see how much speeds have improved.
Introduction
Fixed broadband speeds in the Russian Federation are much more internationally competitive than the country's mobile speeds. Data from Speedtest Intelligence® shows Russia ranked 42nd in the world, between Slovenia and Chile, for mean download speed over fixed broadband. The country ranked 16th for mean upload speed, between Reunion and the Netherlands.
country speeds
Results analyzed from over 24 million fixed broadband tests taken during Q1 2018 reveal Russia’s mean download speed was 38.09 Mbps. Average upload speed was only slightly less at 37.76 Mbps.
Fastest providers
According to Speedtest Intelligence data from Q1 2018, the fastest provider in Russia is Dom.ru, clocking a Speed Score of 43.90. Rostelecom and Beeline tie for second place, separated by two hundredths of a megabit. MTS comes in fourth.
Speed Score
When analyzing fastest carriers, we consider top providers (all ISPs with 3% or more of total test samples in the market for the period). We then determine the fastest provider using Speed Score which incorporates a measure of each provider’s download and upload speed to rank network speed performance (90% of the final Speed Score is attributed to download speed and the remaining 10% to upload speed). The Speed Score uses a modified trimean to demonstrate the download and upload speeds that are available across a provider’s network. We take speeds from the 10th percentile, 50th percentile (also known as the median), and 90th percentile, and combine them in a weighted average using a 1:2:1 ratio, respectively. We place the most emphasis on the download speeds and median speeds as those represent what most network providers’ customers will experience on a day-to-day basis.
Regional broadband speeds
Mean download speeds over fixed broadband vary even more between Russia’s federal subjects than mean mobile speeds. So much so that a spread between 0.73 Mbps in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and 57.27 in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug exists. The five fastest federal subjects (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Bryansk Oblast, Perm Krai, Kemerovo Oblast and Moscow) are spread widely across the country. These subjects represent the Central, Volga, Ural and Siberian federal districts. The five slowest federal subjects (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Chechnya, Magadan Oblast and Ingushetia) are at the farthest edges of the country. These slower subjects represent Far East Northwest, and North Caucasus federal districts.
Peak values in Russia broke through the mark of 63 Mbps, thanks to Iota. But using the Internet at such a speed is hindered by the operator's restrictions on downloading files and a sharp decrease in the channel width when distributing the Internet from a smartphone.
According to the analytical agency Telecom Daily, over two years, the speed in Russian mobile networks has decreased by 10-20%. This is due to the growing number of devices supporting LTE communications, which increases the load on networks.
AT mobile internet speed rating Akamai Technologies Russia dropped from 27th to 33rd place over the year (in Europe - to 13th place). The world order is ruled by South Korea, where the average LTE speed is 29 Mbps. Further, the TOP 5 share the Scandinavian countries with an average of 20 Mbps per brother.
In the US, this figure is 15.3, and in Russia - 12.2 Mbps.
South Korea– 29 Mbps
Norway - 21.3
Sweden - 20.6
Japan - 18.1
Finland - 17.7
USA– 15.3
UK - 14.9
Germany - 13.9
Israel - 13.5
Russia– 12.2
France - 9.9
Italy - 8.2
Turkey - 7.2
Brazil - 4.5
China - 4.2
Egypt - 2.4
North Korea – 2
In our country, the situation with mobile Internet is still satisfactory. We are a strong middle peasant.
Leading Scandinavia is due to the small number of inhabitants per country. For example, the same number of people live in Sweden as in Moscow alone.
And at the cost of 1 GB of mobile Internet, Russia is in second place at all - 117 rubles / GB. Cellular data is cheaper only in Iran - 13 rubles. In the US, you will have to pay 578 rubles.
According to J'son & Partners Consulting, as of the end of 2015, there were 107 million active mobile data subscribers in Russia (+ 9% compared to 2014), and total traffic increased by one and a half times. People are pumping more and more, clogging the channel.
Today in the news slipped stories about customer complaints on the drop in Internet speed in LTE networks. Friends, we are fine. There is no cause for concern. Not yet.
Tatiana Zadorozhnaya
To the credit of our operators, new towers are being built across the country.
It follows from the materials of Roskomnadzor that in December 2015 MTS had 27,365 LTE base stations (+91% compared to January 2015), MegaFon had 26,028 (+58%), VimpelCom had 11,081 (+ 55%).
In the US, many subscribers are sitting on old equipment, because there the ISP business is of the opinion “It works - don’t touch it” ...
Ookla speed statistics (Speedtest.net service) says that on average in Russia, the top three fastest operators were distributed as follows:
1st place - MTS
2nd place - Megafon
3rd place - Beeline
The distribution of active Internet users looks different:
1st place - MTS (36.2 million active Internet users)
2nd place - Beeline (32.6 million)
3rd place - Megafon (29.6 million)
Operators do not disclose data on LTE users, Vedomosti reports.
Friends, we live in a mobile paradise: we have high speeds, low price for 1 GB. Why whine? 8 years ago we were happy with GPRS (Up ~100kbs Down~65kbs, 1 GB - from 1900 rubles), and the harbingers of third-generation communications appeared only in 2009. Now my operator's LTE is twice as fast as home Wi-Fi! I could only dream of something like this before.
-=Produced jointly with and for Tele2=-You know I'm an old paranoid. In our difficult time for the country, no one can be trusted. First of all, open Wi-Fi networks. Do you want to lose your passwords, bank card data and catch a virus? Welcome to public Wi-Fi! When I am in Moscow, I spend most of my time running around the city. Somewhere I took something off, somewhere I sat down, processed it and posted it. Previously, it was necessary to look for a cafe with the Internet. But for several years now, I have never connected to public Wi-Fi networks at all. What for? Mobile Internet works fine in Moscow. Few countries in the world will see such speed. At one time, I didn’t even have the Internet at home, since it was easier to distribute from the phone than to look for a provider and set up a router.
It is also important that the Internet is not only mobile, but also fast. After all, it’s not enough to write in a messenger, you need to record an online broadcast and watch a heavy video on YouTube.
A year ago, a fourth operator, Tele2, appeared in Moscow. And there is even more good internet. Today Tele2 claims that it has the fastest mobile Internet in the city - it was recognized as the best in Moscow three times.
Don't believe?
Here are the latest tests in different places.
The Bolshoi Theater has a download speed of just over 17 Mbps, and an upload speed of 19.7 Mbps. 
At the Historical Museum, the speed is even better - the reception is 19.9 Mbps, and the transmission is 20.4 Mbps. 
The State Duma has 18.9 Mbps for reception and 20 Mbps for transmission. 
In my office on Tverskaya, the speed is worse - 17.3 Mbps for reception and 3 Mbps for transmission. In a building, the speed is always slightly worse than in the open air. 
But they say this is not the limit and there are places where the Internet is even faster. Therefore, I ask you to help me find a place with the highest internet speed. Whoever does this will receive 5,000 rubles from us and Tele2 to the account.
What do we have to do?
1. Connect to Tele2 (if you haven't already) and check your mobile internet speed. This can be done in the SpeedTest application (here is the version for iPhone, Android and Windows).
2. Find the location with the fastest speed, and take a screenshot from the SpeedTest app.
3. Send a screenshot in the comments to this post and write where exactly you took it. Do not try to cheat - Tele2 will definitely check whether such a speed is really possible at the specified point.
Screenshots in the comments can be sent until Friday. Then, together with Tele2, we will select two people who recorded the highest speed in Moscow and the Moscow region, and transfer 5,000 rubles to their account. What can I spend 5,000 rubles with a Tele2 SIM card for?
Within 8 months, an unlimited number of times to call numbers in Moscow and the Moscow region.
- During the year, spend 10 GB of Internet traffic from your phone every month.
- Break the world record for 55 and a half hours of uninterrupted phone conversation (the current record is 54 hours and 5 minutes).
Well, everyone else can go to the Tele2 gift site, where every day you can receive bonuses from the company's partners. Or take part in a creative contest: create the Tele2 logo in different creative ways, take pictures and share photos on social networks with the hashtags #Tele2yeartogether and #MoscowSpeaks. For the most original options, you can get a year of free communication on the Blackest tariff, an annual subscription to a fitness center, an annual cinema subscription and other pleasant surprises.
The competition and gifts are dedicated to the anniversary of Tele2 in Moscow and the Moscow region. The company has something to celebrate: this year it managed to achieve many successes. It offered tariffs that were 25-40% cheaper than other operators, including the first and only tariff in the region with unlimited calls to phones of all operators. So the Big Three also had to cut prices. It turns out that regardless of whether you use a Tele2 SIM card or not, you still have something to thank the new operator for.
In terms of network coverage and quality, Tele2 caught up with the Big Three. I have already told you about the speed of mobile Internet - you can now check it yourself.
I wish Tele2 further success, and good luck to you in the contest;)
Today we cannot imagine our life without mobile communication, which is an attribute of almost every aspect of it. There are several major telecom providers that provide various types of services, and in this article we will help you figure out how to choose the most suitable among them. How to determine which mobile operator is better? Especially for you, we have compiled a rating of mobile operators in Russia.
Best Mobile Operators 2018-2019
The demand for mobile communications is growing every year, and there are 4 major operators that fully satisfy this demand.
- MEGAPHONE
- BEELINE
- Tele2
Each operator has both its advantages and disadvantages, which we will analyze in more detail in this article. 
The rating of mobile operators is regularly examined by Roskomnadzor, taking into account the opinions of users. The operator Yota, which occupies a significant part of the market, is not included in this rating, since it does not have its own towers and is a subsidiary of MegaFon. Yota rents towers from the leading players in the market, the coverage width suffers from this. The rating is compiled on the basis of many factors, among the most significant are the following:
- Mobile connection quality
- Mobile internet quality
- Percentage of delivered messages
- Service cost
- Network coverage level.
To assess the quality of services of a particular operator, we will use statistics.
cellular
The leader in this category is occupied by Megafon, whose communication quality tends to be absolute, having only 0.7% of failures throughout the network. The second place is occupied by MTS, slightly behind MegaFon, with 0.8% failures. A kind of anti-record holder is Beeline, having as much as 15.1% of failures. At the same time, Tele2, relatively young for Russia, has only 1.2% failures.
Mobile Internet
Regarding the speed of mobile Internet, the difference between operators is more noticeable. MegaFon is also in the lead here, providing a real speed of up to 14 Mbps. It is followed by MTS with 10.1 Mbps, followed by Tele2 with 9.4 Mbps, followed by Beeline (5 Mbps). 
Despite the high speed, MegaFon cannot boast of a good number of successful connections via IP / TCP and HTTP, giving 3% failures in the first case and 4.4% in the second. MTS has the largest share of successful connections, with 0.6% and 0.8% of failures, respectively. However, it is worth noting that the speed of the Internet for each operator varies depending on the region of coverage.
Instant messaging
Here Beeline takes the leading position, showing the result in 100% of delivered messages. Tele2 is next, having 1.2% of undelivered SMS, MegaFon did not deliver 1.7%, and MTS did not receive 2.4%.
Coverage level
In this section, we will only consider 4G coverage, as it is difficult to determine the level of coverage for conventional communication, for the reason that some operators often rent towers from others, and it is difficult to estimate this figure. Consider the level of coverage in Moscow and the region - it is in this region that the highest density of 4G towers is. 
In terms of 4G coverage, Megafon again showed leadership. Experts explain this by saying that this operator was the first to start installing LTE towers, significantly ahead of its competitors. The coverage density of 4G networks at Megafon takes a share of 32.2%. The second place, according to the research, is held by MTS with 30.9%, the third place in the study was taken by the MTS operator with 30.9%, the third - "Beeline" with a result of 28.8%.
Service cost
Each operator provides a huge variety of tariffs, we will not analyze all of them, but only compare the general characteristics. The cost of communication tariffs is dynamic, the average price tag in Russia for a package is 300-350 r / month. According to ComNews Research analysts, when using a small basket (lack of mobile Internet, a small number of calls and messages, focus on on-net calls), MTS became the most profitable operator. In other cases, which cover the majority of users (Internet, calls, messages), the best operator in terms of the cost of services, both according to experts and according to user reviews, is the Tele2 provider. The cost of an average package for all operators varies greatly depending on the region of service, and in the Far East, as well as the northern districts, the values are uneven. If we take an assessment of the trends in the central regions, the cost of an average package varies in this order, from the cheapest to the most expensive.
The popular service for measuring the speed of Internet traffic Speedtest.net has published a rating of mobile operators in 2017. It looks like this.
The first place belongs to MegaFon – by a significant margin. I read the testing methodology (it is available on the site), and in general I agree with it. Contrary to the opinion of respected analysts, Speedtest cuts off owners of weak phones and takes into account only those that support the maximum network capabilities. So no 3G-oldies there, everything is clear here. Measurements on user devices in real conditions are generally the only way to assess the real quality of communication, in contrast to driving a car with a measurer on highways. So everything is correct here.
And yes, in 2016-2017 MegaFon invested a lot of effort and money in upgrading the network (as well as its subsequent configuration), so the results in Speedtest could not but reflect this.
1. The non-existent Yota operator is included in the rating. This, as we know, is a virtual operator of MegaFon itself, operating on the same network. In fact - the tariff plan. And the fact that he got different results is pretty funny. Well reflects the randomness of the results. I wonder if Tinkoff Mobile and Let's Talk will be added next year. By the way, an interesting fact - according to the study, MegaFon subscribers launched Speedtest 1,349,153 times last year, and users of the Yota tariff plan 997,163 times, although there are an order of magnitude fewer of them. Either Yota has a constantly buggy Internet, which forces users to check for its availability, or they are simply obsessed with puzomerki.
2. By the way, about the number of launches. MegaFon, as I already wrote, has 1,349,153 launches, and MTS has 1,657,552. In terms of the size of the subscriber base, the operators have actual parity. Taking into account the Speedtest methodology, it turns out that the MTS network simply has more subscribers with advanced smartphones connecting to LTE. Taking into account the fact that there were no known accidents in the MTS network last year, I am inclined to this option, and not to users' attempts to find the cause of glitches. If there are significantly more LTE users in the network, it is not surprising that on average they get less megabits per second. The number of Beeline launches is 1,367,291, even more than MegaFon, with a significantly lower subscriber base. And here, I'm afraid, it's not about the number of connected advanced devices ...
3. And most importantly, why Speedtest measurements mean little. The fact is that the same MegaFon has Speedtest traffic in the highest priority (and it is unlikely that it is the only one). At the level of the main services of the operator itself. I saw the operator's documents on traffic prioritization, and everything is very funny there. At the forefront is Speedtest, and far below web browsing, instant messengers, video streaming, mail, etc. There is nothing to say about P2P traffic at all - it is driven to the very bottom.
That is, the “speed” according to Speedtest can be compared with the data on the speed of movement along the Moscow Ring Road at 4 am on Sunday. Is this information useful? Absolutely not. She's about nothing. Personally, I wonder at what speed I will drive at 10 am, at 12 am, and especially at 7 pm. Speedtest is not able to answer this question. This is the average temperature in the hospital, and not only in operating rooms in different buildings, but also in the morgue. And for some reason in the crematorium.
The best operator is the one that works perfectly for you at home, at work, in the country and in general in those places where you visit most often. Everything else, alas, is just entertaining information that has a very indirect value. It is also worth understanding that the speed of mobile Internet is the only thing that is easy to measure, but there is also the quality of voice transmission, work in the subway and shopping centers, along highways and popular railway directions, etc. etc. This is much more difficult to measure, and certainly not subject to Speedtest.
P.S. Look at the picture about the “best fixed operator” and think - why am I laughing terribly at it?
