OREANDA-NEWS.  In the first half of the year, the minimum package rates for communication, according to analysts, rose by 8%. The rates of eight operators in all regions of Russia were evaluated. For example, the minimum package fare increased from 270 to 291 rubles in comparison with December 2019. Tele2's tariffs increased the most - by 13%.

"Operators made repeated adjustments to tariffs during the first half of the year, however, if MTS, Beeline and MegaFon did this only with a part of the tariffs before the introduction of the self-isolation regime, Tele2 sharply increased tariffs, both current and archived, at the turn of April - may, which attracted the attention of regulatory authorities," explained Sergey Polovnikov, head of Content Review.

At the same time, the index of communication availability in Russia compared to December 2019 has not changed at all and amounted to 6.5. The accessibility index is the ratio of the average mobile phone tariff to the average income of the population. The lower the index, the more accessible mobile communications are in the region.

According to the Agency's assessment, the most affordable mobile communication, taking into account the average salary of the population and tariffs, is now in such regions as Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous district, Sakhalin region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous district, Yaroslavl region, and Magadan region. The regions with the least available mobile communication is Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Republic of Ingushetia, Republic of Kalmykia.