Russia Moves To Calling Party Pays

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by Przemolog

Who says that calling is free at all ? But you can say the same about landline calls - somebody must pay - the difference is that those calls are cheaper...

I think the difference for Americans is that we've always had unmetered local calling. Within you local area you can call as much as you like under your monthly fee. Only calling long distance creates an additional charge. When, my mobile is within my monthly bucket I don't get charged extra for any calls, so you might even say that it's "free" but I prefer included. Just consider, my sis-in-law has a 3000 minute/month plan for something like $49/month. Think what those 3K minutes would cost with most European carriers.

I'm not arguing that one is better than the other, so don't look for me to defend one system over the other. I've used both and appreciate the denefits of each.

[Przemolog]

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

I think the difference for Americans is that we've always had unmetered local calling. Within you local area you can call as much as you like under your monthly fee. Only calling long distance creates an additional charge. When, my mobile is within my monthly bucket I don't get charged extra for any calls, so you might even say that it's "free" but I prefer included.

You mean the situation when the mobile phone has the number with the area code which is local "from the point of view" of the calling party? If so, you call "free" from your landline to local mobile phones since you have from 672 to 744 hours (depending on the month) of local calls included .

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

Just consider, my sis-in-law has a 3000 minute/month plan for something like $49/month. Think what those 3K minutes would cost with most European carriers.

Do you mean a _mobile_ plan with 3K minutes of both _incoming_ and outgoing calls? If so, are included outgoing calls local only or national (to all US numbers)?
Of course, it would be difficult or even impossible to find a European plan with similar "parameters". But I think it's hard to compare such plans. In Europe each mobile tariff plan has, by CPP rules, "unlimited incoming calls/SMS included" .

Originally Posted by DRNewcomb

I'm not arguing that one is better than the other, so don't look for me to defend one system over the other. I've used both and appreciate the denefits of each.

And I guess from your words that the CSP "billing model" works OK in the USA because:
1) Mobile phone numbers have the same area codes as landlines so they are called at landline rates.
2) Local calls are always "free" (= unlimited local calls are included in a monthly fee)
3) Mobile phone subscribers use plans with huge amounts of talktime included at moderate fees so paying for received calls doesn't "hurt" them

I wonder now why Russia moves from CSP to CPP. Of course, it's a question rather to Asick then to you
It seems that 2) is not always "fullfilled" in Russia ("Before the law, fixed phone networks in many Russian regions (but not in Moscow and not in St.Petersburg) applied non-free local calls tariffs with no other chance to their users.."). But it's not so important IMHO - it's important so that calls to mobile phones would be charged as to other landlines - no matter if on "per minute basis" or as "included minutes".
I think that the most crucial point is 3). I suppose that in Russia there are no postpaid plans with hundreds or thousands minutes included at a "nice" price, and moreover, there is a much larger share of prepaid users (paying for each minute of incoming calls) in Russia than in the US. That's why they may find CPP more "honest" ...

[Asick]

Yes, I agree. I mean I think 3) is the most important here in moving from CSP to CPP. Actually, tariffs with included minutes are not any popular here. It's usually like a prepaid (you pay per each minute you talk, no monthly subscription fee), a contract (usually prepaid sort of it, you pay per each minute and a small monthly fee such as $2 or $3 a month), or an unlimited plan per $40-$100/month or something like that (either cellular or local, i.e. you have unlimited outgoing calls to any local cellulars while incoming calls from local cellulars are free here for every modern tariff you may find, or you have unlimited outgoing local calls and free incoming calls from anywhere). So, if you want to pay few money, you just buy a prepaid. Want a bit more - you get a contract (minutes are a bit cheaper with the contract). Want to talk much more - then you get a local unlimited plan (satisfied with calls to cellulars and don't expect much non-free incoming calls from fixed phones and from other regions - you may save money and get a cheaper cellular unlimited plan). That's all. Russians do not like the idea to pay much money for a pack of pre-included minutes, the logic is about this: "Why the hell should I pay for the minutes that I'd probably not use?" On the contrary, unlimited plans seem to be a sort of great thing: "Oh, I may call whoever I want and talk for hours and hours! Cool!" May be, it's just a feature of the Russian psychology, I don't know. I guess if there are many tariffs with included minutes, people would ask for CPP with the following: "Oh, why the hell should I spend my free included minutes answering the calls that their callers need more than I?"

As you can see, prepaid and contract (no unlimited calls) users do want the CPP rule much. This may significantly decrease their own expenses. Those who like unlimited plans are expected to be disappointed a bit (I mean those people who currently get free incoming calls on their tariffs, which are currently free too for users calling them from a fixed line), however nobody really cares about that because a number of such the 'unlimited' users is MUCH less than other users.

[Asick]

One more thing: 1) is not actually working here too, I mean although local cellular numbers do exist here, the number of them is MUCH less than other +79... numbers.