Major Russian mobile operators — MTS, MegaFon, Beeline, and T2 — have called on the government to block voice calls on WhatsApp, Telegram, and other foreign messengers. They cite rising costs due to sanctions, equipment shortages, and increased mobile traffic. Without this, the companies threaten that internet speeds in cities could slow down because authorities have refused to approve sharp tariff hikes.
Operators believe that the ban will return users to traditional calls and stabilize their revenues. The proposal is being discussed amid initiatives from the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, which has already proposed automatically blocking calls from foreign SIM cards, requiring operators to record conversations, and marking all calls from abroad.
The agency is also preparing new requirements for 5G satellite operators: they will need to install equipment that provides security services access to subscriber data and obtain government permits to use radio frequencies. Construction of special ground stations is planned to intercept signals from foreign satellites. Violations will be punishable by fines.
Additional measures include creating “children’s” SIM cards with content filtering and a possible ban on social networks for teenagers under 14 years old.
According to the FSB, recent outages in Telegram and WhatsApp — including the absence of voice chats and video calls — are part of testing the block. Meanwhile, amid frequent mobile internet outages, SMS traffic in Russia rose by 12–15% in June–July for the first time in a decade, restoring popularity to a technology that has lost over 80% of its volume since 2013.
