Unlimited mobile Internet with a speed limit exists for itself, and even new versions appear. About the modernization of the Tele2 network in the Moscow region, figures and facts. A little about a single register (database) of the entire population of Russia, which should start working in a year and a half, on January 1, 2022.

Why is speed limiting useful?

There are few such tariffs due to the seeming absurdity: operators are fighting for record speeds, but is there a purpose to slow down? And psychologically, the user is a little uncomfortable, it seems like he pays “his own money” for something deliberately flawed. In fact, these unlimited tariffs have advantages that few people think about.

• Unlike unlimited for a smartphone, such a tariff is not limited to use in a certain type of device (smartphone, smartphone + tablet). A sim card can be inserted into a router or a modem.
• Accordingly, you can safely distribute the Internet without any “chemistry” with TTL and without the risk of the operator blocking the SIM card.

• Reduced speed is a natural limiter of traffic consumption, there is no need to pile up and use insanely complex software constructions for adaptive speed control depending on the load on the network segment. Also, you do not need to track the traffic of all subscribers and turn on the “brakes” for those who went over with the number of downloaded gigabytes.
• Finally, the operator does not have to waste the expensive time of its employees on constant scandals with indignant subscribers: “Why was I restricted / blocked ?! So what if I downloaded a measly hundred or two gigabytes ?! It’s unlimited, and everything is paid for! “

It is clear that it is more profitable for the operator to drive subscribers’ traffic at the maximum speed. Not everyone has unlimited, and the higher the speed, the faster the subscriber ends up with the package. And there the subscriber is already waiting for all sorts of “auto-renewal of speed” and other monetization. Open any news site: to read a note of 3-5 sentences, you have to click at least 3 times, and any click on a news site – 5-10 MB of ad junk, as intended. Complaints “My Internet is wildly slow !!!” mean that your channel bandwidth is not enough for the insane stream of ads that they are trying to force feed you, that’s all. With the increase in speed, the Internet becomes comfortable, since the channel is already beginning to digest the niagara of advertising garbage. And the site owners think: “Oh, you, they now have time to open, and the money for viewing ads is dripping regularly. Let’s add a dozen to one and a half advertising banners on each page. ” The cycle of advertising traffic and money in nature.

Only a year and a half or two ago I was against the use of any ad blockers, it is unethical. People try, create content, and they have the right to count on earnings, they want to eat! Paid accounts are also an option, but they didn’t catch on massively. Although quite a few resources use this scheme. Including, possibly, for partial disguise of the sources of funding for the publication.

Here is a screenshot of the “wave nailed”. It’s bad that subscribers begin to perceive the resource as belonging to them and even put forward their own requirements for content, but that’s another topic. In Russian conditions, advertising is still more familiar and all mechanisms are well-oiled. All this means that unlimited tariffs with a speed limit are downright forced to use ad blockers, which are now being poured into a stormy and often muddy stream. You will not painstakingly configure access to each site you visit? And browsing many sites without a blocker is a painful process. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the low popularity of tariffs with a speed limit.

Smart Modem and Smart Modem + from MGTS

Useful information reaches us in sometimes intricate ways. As you can imagine, there is plenty of news and press releases in my mail, and there is more than enough spam. Somehow I have already adapted to the content of the field “subject”, the sender and some other signs (intuition, or what?) Even before receiving mail at the stage of viewing the address / subject, to separate potentially useful from spam. Topic “Unlimited Internet for a summer residence – 700 rubles / month!” and the sender of MGTS with the address info @ mgts … hinted at a press release, in the end it turned out not a press release, not news, but rather an advertisement reminder of the MGTS Smart Modem tariff that has existed for a year. So to speak, we have refreshed the topic for the summer. Well, that’s a good thing too.

You can read here, but there is very little there. More like an advertising lure for the summer season. MGTS does not spoil us with detailed descriptions at all, or I simply could not find pdf files for downloading and viewing. There is a little more information in the “Tariffs” section, although it is also very sparse, and the sections on the page below “globally” refer to MGTS mobile tariffs, and much is clearly inapplicable to our MGTS “Smart Modem”.

So, they offer an unlimited Internet tariff at speeds up to 4 Mbit / s for any device (that is, it is suitable for routers) with the possibility of unlimited Internet distribution, and if you feel like it, you can call at a flat rate of 5 rubles. ./min across Russia. The tariff is valid throughout Russia, that is, it does not matter where you managed to build a dacha, but it is connected to MGTS for residents of Moscow and the Moscow region. The subscription fee is 700 rubles / month for subscribers with home Internet from MGTS, 800 rubles / month for users without MGTS home Internet. Postpaid tariff (bill payment next month). Probably not bad for a summer residence, especially since there are no record speeds in very many “country locations”.

The tariff works on the MTS mobile network and is very similar to the “For laptop” tariff of MTS of November 2017, you can see it here. The difference in the intercity price is immediately striking: 12 rubles / min for other operators in the MTS tariff and 5 rubles / min in the tariff analogue of MGTS. As for the monthly fee, there is a complete coincidence, 800 (700 “for their own”) rubles / month. We can assume that MGTS home Internet subscribers have a discount of 100 rubles. Since the MGTS tariff operates on the MTS network, it is likely that the tariff features will also apply to the MGTS version. Some interesting features of the MTS tariff:

• The turbo button “Maximum speed for 3 hours” or “Maximum speed for 6 hours” works.
• The initial package of services includes “Total restriction of infotainment services”, in MTS it is a modern analogue of the previous “Content prohibition”. For a sim card in a router, this is important, otherwise look for fistulas for a group member who climbed to a bad site and got five or two subscriptions on the sim card.
• The provision of services of file-sharing networks (torrents) is limited to the speed of 512 Kbps. It’s good if the tariff for MGTS will be so, for torrents the speed is quite bearable for these times.
• Rounding off traffic – 1 kilobyte (nostalgic sobbing).

From May 27, 2020, MTS will send the “For Laptop” tariff to the archive, you can read the news on the MTS website here. However, for residents of the Moscow region, this information is not very important: the tariff of MGTS “Smart Modem” is better than the current version “For MTS laptop” even for someone who came to connect “from the outside”. And there is always a hope that MTS will come up with something more interesting, and something will come up without fail, “a holy place is never empty.”

And I also saw an interesting piece of art called “Smart Modem +” on the MGTS mobile tariffs website. Judging by the scanty description, this is also a tariff with unlimited Internet and also works in a router. But for 100 rubles. more expensive (i.e. 800 rubles / month for home Internet owners from MGTS and 900 rubles / month for the rest), but at a speed of up to 10 Mbps. This speed is already quite comfortable even for two or three users, if they do not watch different films at the same time. So on the eve of the beginning of summer we are waiting for news and “we will see”.

Tele2, about the network in the Moscow region

The operator shares statistics on the development and modernization of its network in the Moscow region and tells “what, where, when” and how much. The most active expansion of the network is announced in Orekhovo-Zuevo, Ramenskoye and Krasnogorsk. A few quotes with numbers:

“Tele2 summed up the results of technical development in the Moscow region during the pandemic. At the end of the first quarter of 2020, the number of base stations here increased by 88% year-on-year. At the same time, in April Tele2 reached 100% growth in distribution zones.

At the end of the first quarter of 2020, the number of LTE base stations in the capital and the region increased by 88% year-on-year, while since January 2020 – by 18%. The most active month of construction was February – the share of base stations in the total number of installations was 33%. It was in this month that the main preparatory measures were held to ensure the stability of the network in the context of the spread of coronavirus infection.

In April, the number of RES doubled year-on-year – during the quarantine period, the operator built 25% of base stations of the total number of installations. In addition, during this period, the Moscow region became the leader in the number of launched sites – sites for placing base stations. This figure reached 10 sites in April. Thus, the operator has provided 000% of the residents of Moscow and the region with high-quality mobile communications and high-speed mobile Internet LTE, having built a network using the latest modern equipment.

A serious application for providing 100% of the population of the Moscow region with mobile communications and LTE. Just in case, let me remind you that the coverage of mobile operators is usually measured not in square kilometers or hectares, but in percentage of the covered population. So the numbers look radically better. In general, the approach is rational, there is no need to cover our endless fields and forests if no one lives there permanently. On the other hand, you can easily be left without communication in the field or on some country road. Those who find themselves in such a situation then loudly outraged: “How so ?! They promised 100% coverage! Are they lying? ” No, they are not lying, just a different accounting principle. And also the inattention of those who read news and press releases, operators always indicate that we are talking about coverage of 80%, 90%, etc. exactly the population. Roughly speaking, somewhere in the far corner of the region, a huge territory with a couple of cottage settlements under construction and access roads to them may remain uncovered, but this does not at all prevent the operator from declaring 100% coverage of the entire population of the region by communication.

The main vector of the network’s development has shifted from the capital to the city and to summer cottages – following the flow of migration of residents. Tele2 paid special attention to increasing the LTE coverage area in the Moscow region – it was expanded in more than 100 settlements. The most active network optimization during the quarantine period takes place in the urban districts of the Eastern and North-Western directions – Orekhovo-Zuevo, Ramenskoye, Krasnogorsk.

Yes, all operators write about the flow of the Moscow population to the Moscow region due to the coronavirus. Here I would like to read in the comments the reviews of those who live in the listed territories. Has it really gotten better? Or is it the same? Or has it gotten worse? This may also be the case, since the load has grown significantly. Write, do not hesitate!

A particularly fast growth rate of traffic is also observed in the Troitsk and Novomoskovsk administrative districts. This is largely due to the concentration in these areas of the main medical centers for the fight against coronavirus. Thanks to the launch of new capacitive sites on this territory, Tele2 managed to maintain high-quality, reliable communications and fast access to high-speed Internet for the residents of the region. “

“Unified register of information about the population of the Russian Federation”, what is it and why?

How fast time flies! It seems that until recently we were idly discussing the prospects of creating a monstrous database, into which all information about all Russians will be driven. And then they will trade this database in the doorways, yes. It seemed like an unrealizable fantasy of reinsurers. No, no one doubts the readiness of our officials to sell the base or accidentally merge it, the very creation of such a global information system seemed impossible. However, we survived, after a year and a half (January 1, 2022), the base will start working. Unless, of course, the Federation Council or the president has deployed this law. This law passed the Duma successfully; the process of multi-stage passage can be found on the State Duma website here.

A bit of officialdom from the website of the State Duma, quotes:

“The State Duma adopted in the third and final reading the Law“ On a single federal information register containing information about the population of the Russian Federation ”. The register will contain specific information about the citizen: full name, date and place of birth, gender, SNILS, TIN, citizenship and marital status. The resource will be maintained by the Federal Tax Service based on the data it has, as well as data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education and Science, and state non-budgetary funds. The IRS will also be obliged to ensure the protection of all available information.

The law is expected to come into force on January 1, 2022. Some regulations will come into force on January 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025. There is also a transition period until December 31, 2025 ”.

If you look at the organizations participating in the project (the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Tax Service …), it becomes clear that the notorious database will contain not only the full name, date and place of birth, gender, SNILS, TIN, citizenship and the marital status of each citizen. It appears that several existing databases will be merged.

The interest of public services in such an instrument is understandable: this includes increasing the efficiency of tax collection, and preventing fraud, planning, and much, much more. As they say, stick your finger in any industry – you guess. But what about the interests of ordinary citizens? Again, “in flight”, plus the immensely increasing risks of falling into the hands of someone else’s uncle in general, the entire inside story of a citizen in a convenient format?

They declare that for citizens it will be much faster to receive data and certificates about themselves and those who are in their care, because everything will be in one database! This enthusiasm seems to me to be greatly exaggerated. They write that in order to reduce the risk of leaks, each department will have access to a strictly defined “piece” of the base, and only the security forces will have access to the entire base. That is, if a person now needs a complex certificate, then he (for example) goes to the MFC, and the MFC requests information from various departments from their databases. Everything will be “radically” more efficient and faster! A person goes to the MFC, and the MFC sends requests to all departments so that they look for the necessary information, each department in its own “piece” of the unified database. Hmm, will that be faster? I doubt, God forbid, if it does not turn out to be slower, and, it seems, they are giving us noodles.

With a shudder I imagine the base “breakdown” even for a few days, brrr … If complete paralysis does not come, then many departments will shake mentally. With the drain and sale of the entire database as a whole, this is unlikely, for sure the protection is well thought out. The first time is unlikely, then all the same, they will get to her, dear. The human factor and the price of the issue, read the detailed material on RBC.

Such a database is a valuable thing, and you can offer a lot of money and other benefits for this thing. And all sorts of subtleties. For example, people serving this base, they are also people. And for the competent service of such a monster, a person must be a good specialist, plus have access to the entire database. Is there a guarantee that this hypothetical person will turn out to be a crystal-clear unmercenary? In general, somehow uncomfortable, they are going to put all the eggs in one basket. What do you think on this topic?

Quarantine through the eyes of a mobile application

The Social Monitoring application is something that looks like it is “on the knee”, cobbled together from the stolen fragments. And after all, someone pushed this craft as an official punitive instrument of the Moscow authorities, I would like to know the author of pushing through the Moscow mayor’s office. The people have the right to know their heroes, no? After all, we pay taxes for garbage collection.

As a consumer, I am not interested in who stole a part of the program code from whom and whether it was stolen. If only it worked. But this is just the problem, it really does not work! In a nutshell, this application forcibly made everyone quarantined happy. After being installed on a smartphone, this software miracle begins to go crazy unpredictably, waking up day and night and demanding an immediate selfie of a person in quarantine. If it coincides with a visit to the toilet, then rely on the ethics of the developers who will not (maybe) post photos of your genitals on the network. And maybe they will, because the ethics of the developers of this wonderful software is still a big question. So questionable that I read about the discussion of the official cancellation in bulk of the entire wild amount of fines furiously imposed on Muscovites by the insane application. Here, read the review. If the author even greatly exaggerated, then all the same, the hair on his head moves, how is it possible? This raging software monster quickly riveted fines of 216 million rubles for 60 users. Okay, I don’t mind being a guinea pig, but I’m not ready to pay awkward fines for this dubious “privilege”.

And where are the reasons for the furious fine? I read the discussions, and a lot became clear. The app developers remember the smartphone’s GPS as a positioning source – they lie and don’t blush! There is no GPS data there, especially in the apartment. Or there is, but not everywhere and not always. The application stupidly takes positioning from the data of the cellular network, and then cute surprises begin. A charming story about a “quarantined” family: a couple live on the 10th floor, they flopped together to smoke on the balcony. With their smartphones, ha! The 10th floor is high, and smartphones immediately caught on to another base station, and the application instantly issued 2 fines of 4 rubles each. No, guys, the GPS was not lying around here and there, the house could not drive a kilometer or a half away, it still has a foundation. This is a misunderstanding of the developers of how everything in cellular networks is arranged and works. Or, on the contrary, understanding to take more fines, and if something happens, then blame the operator, who, they say, got it wrong with determining the location. Life hack for victims: if everything is documented and provided with illustrations, then you can safely submit an application to the Guinness Book of Records in the category “most expensive smoke break”.

Alternatively, garbage problems are to blame. If, indeed, the Social Monitoring application was blinded on the basis of a stolen garbage truck tracker, then everything is clear: if garbage trucks fly, then they do not go up to the level of the 10th floor. And how could the developer of the garbage tracker know that their tracker would be borrowed three years later to track people? After all, people not only move along the roads, they strive upwards on elevators, such entertainers!

They write that this software kindergarten cost the Moscow government wild millions of rubles, I do not specifically write numbers. And then you never know, suddenly find myself a distributor of fakes? In general, this situation with the application cannot be called otherwise than epic fail, read here a selection of stories of people who suffered from this software hack.

And another quote on the topic of hack-work and irresponsibility of the developers of the Social Monitoring application:

“… It turned out that the personal data of the townspeople is transmitted in unencrypted form, and the photographs of faces are sent for recognition to an Estonian company with servers in Germany, which violates the law“ On Personal Data ”. In addition, the application was given virtually complete control over the phone. The scandal was so serious that the application had to be removed from public access. It turned out [removed] for revision. “

What an interesting idea! In the review above, I wrote about the “Unified Register of Information on the Population of the Russian Federation”, why not, for the sake of saving server capacities and increasing the reliability of the system, place this huge database with all Russians somewhere on servers in Lithuania, Poland or the same Estonia? I am sure that the leadership of any of these countries, friendly to Russia, would not even charge us for hosting. So to speak, exclusively within the framework of fraternal assistance.

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