The lawyer appreciated the plan of the Ministry of Finance to allow the interregional transfer of the number

The changes, which provide for the possibility of inter-regional transfer of the phone number, will lead to an increase in the convenience of using mobile communications in Russia, believes lawyer Alexander Khaminsky, head of the Law Enforcement Center in Moscow and the Moscow Region. He told Izvestia about this on March 12.

Earlier, on March 10, a draft decree of the Government of the Russian Federation prepared by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation was published on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts, suggesting the establishment of the possibility of inter-regional number transfer. So, when moving to another region, subscribers will be able to transfer their number to another telecom operator or leave it with the current one if the operator works in the region. The service is expected to become available in 2026.

Khaminsky recalled that in 2019, national roaming was abolished, which provided for increased billing of calls for mobile subscribers located in another region. Thus, starting in 2019, the mobile radiotelephone operator in the country establishes the same conditions for the provision of mobile radiotelephone services to each subscriber, regardless of whether the subscriber is located within the territory of the region of the Russian Federation specified in the contract or outside the specified territory.

"Earlier, in 2013, the so-called "mobile slavery" was abolished, which forbade switching to another operator with your phone number. Now the legislator plans to provide an opportunity to transfer your phone number not only to another operator, but also to another service region," the lawyer added.

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At the same time, the explanatory note to the new draft notes that internal migration in Russia over the past five years has been at the level of 2.5 to 4 million people per year, which is about 2-3% of the total population of the Russian Federation.

According to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, the inter-regional number transfer service will be in demand among internal migrants, as it will allow them to save the number when moving, including without changing the operator, and continue to use websites, services and applications without re-registration.

"Previously, the prefix of the phone number allowed us to identify both the caller's operator and the region from where he is calling. However, gradual changes in legislation have led to the fact that the prefix has now ceased to carry any useful information. Accordingly, the new changes will only lead to an increase in the convenience of using mobile communications in Russia," Khaminsky concluded.

Earlier, on January 28, it was reported that telecom operators would be obligated to automatically block calls from abroad from fake supposedly fixed (city) Russian numbers. This follows from the amendments to the law "On Communications" developed by the Ministry of Finance. The call will also be interrupted "if there is no information about the subscriber's number or the unique identification code of the subscriber who initiated this connection."