SIM cards: official cloning? MTS service “Double number” What is an MTS twin card

Surely, many of MTS subscribers thought about why a cellular operator cannot introduce such a service as providing a client with several SIM cards with the same number. Well, it would be great, one in the phone, the other in the tablet, used purely for the Internet, and the third, which would be ideal, in the car, provided that it has a built-in gadget. This would be an ideal solution: you top up a single account and use the devices at your own discretion.

On this moment there is no such option. Neither MTS nor any other company mobile communications in the territory Russian Federation, does not provide SIM card duplication services. You won't be able to do this on your own either.

What is this connected with? A number of subscribers would be happy to take advantage of such an offer. In fact, at the moment this is impossible from a technical point of view and undesirable from a practical point of view.

Is it possible to clone a SIM card yourself?

This opportunity existed back in the 2000s, from the beginning to the middle. Technically, creating a clone of a card at home was not difficult. To do this, you needed basic equipment, some kind of programmer, and, of course, Personal Computer. At the moment, law enforcement agencies and mobile operators are fighting for the so-called “purity of the air.” That is, modern SIM cards are so advanced compared to their ancestors that it is simply impossible to clone them. The encryption protocol makes it impossible for even the most advanced hacker to find the key.

In general, of course, you can try, but attempt will result in the main Sim becoming a useless piece of plastic. Therefore, here it is worth thinking about saving your time and acting officially, that is, purchasing cards with different numbers for all your gadgets. In fact, this will not cause any difficulties, since you can now top up your account without leaving your home, and a huge selection of tariff plans allows you to optimize your expenses and reduce them to a minimum. Even with different personal accounts of MTS numbers.

And also, when thinking about such a possibility as a duplicate sim, just think about what risk you are exposing yourself, your data, and your funds too, given that now the majority bank cards, accounts, commercial activities are tied to phones. If a clone of the card ends up in the possession of a dishonest person, then at the very least you can lose money, and in the worst case scenario, find yourself suspected of some kind of crime.

What is a TWIN card

MTS TWIN card – this is a special service that offers its users to get two SIM cards with an identical number. At the moment, it is officially impossible to purchase a TWIN kit in the Russian Federation. However, on the territory of Belarus you can take advantage of such an offer. To do this, you need to contact the office and write an application for the provision of services.

Cards can be used in one telephone set, or in two different ones, and there are two modes of operation of Twin cards:

• Simultaneous, when both SIM cards are active on the network and can receive calls. Here the cards can be of different sizes, both standard and micro; their size must be indicated in the application for the set. In this case, dialing can be parallel or sequential; this is also indicated in the application.
• Alternating - when the first card is working, the second one loses activity on the network, that is, the equipment where the second one is installed will need to be turned off while the first one is working. In this case, SIM cards will only be standard sizes.

The mode is determined by the subscriber himself when purchasing the kit. It can only be changed by contacting a communication shop, which will probably require replacing the entire set.

Reception of messages, text or multimedia, is available only for one of the SIM cards. You can purchase the kit at any of the MTS communication stores in Belarus; it costs 12.5 rubles in the currency of the republic. You can cancel your Twin Card by visiting any nearest salon.

There is also a restriction on the use of Twin cards on a number of tariffs, these are:

• Unlimited;
• Corporate unlimited Internet;
• Internet for home.

The impossibility of purchasing a duplicate SIM card and Twin set on the territory of the Russian Federation requires the search for other ways to establish communication, for example the “Double Number” special offer, but we will talk about this next time.

Two or more SIM cards with the same number and on the same personal account have always been a “headache” for operators, and this phenomenon has been mercilessly fought. But modern realities urgently require it, and in a competitive environment, operators are already ready to do this. With reservations and restrictions, but almost ready. The question is to what extent the “legally limited cloning” scheme will be viable and in demand.

History of the issue, aka “Lyrics”

I wonder how much such a scheme can be implemented in the context of the need to track the geographic movements of SIM cards of those users in whom the “competent authorities” are interested? A separate interesting question.

Cloning SIM cards is a long-standing, very popular topic. Operators have always been ready to provide many additional options to those who were willing to pay a hefty subscription fee for unlimited communications. Like “for 2,500 a month you can use unlimited communication at home, and for 3,500 you can use it while traveling around Russia. And SMS you as much as you want, I don’t mind. Just pay!” Those who want to organize illegal negotiation points for “just pay 3,500!” It turned out there was plenty, and then SMS spammers slowly moved towards the legal feeder. It was necessary to close such shops altogether or set restrictions that were insensitive to ordinary users.

This is without cloning SIM cards. What if with cloning? With old, still cloning SIM cards, people sat for years with several people on one unlimited tariff. It’s not very convenient (to take turns talking), but it’s cheap and practical. Maybe the operators wouldn’t worry too much, but the “competent authorities” were unlikely to be happy with this. After all, they need to know exactly who called from the phone in the territory, for example, of a vegetable warehouse in Biryulyovo. The problem is not only Russian, and all SIM card manufacturers have long taken this into account: for several years now, SIM cards have strictly limited the number of registrations on the network. It also, as far as I understand, limits the number of attempts to select a code to create a “duplicate” SIM card. The fact that a normal, active user now sometimes encounters the unexpected “dying” of the SIM card is not a problem; the SIM card will be replaced for free. This means there is nothing to complain about, since there is no financial damage.

It is unlikely that the times will return when the police caught people talking on the phone on the streets and collected “tribute” from those who did not have official permission to use a mobile phone. However, in light of the gradually tightening requirements for the mandatory identification of all “anonymous” people on the Internet and on the radio, they decided to take the issue of improving the quality of subscriber registration seriously. Back in the summer, the State Duma adopted a bill regulating the rules for the sale of SIM cards, the estimated start date is January 1, 2014. The bill amends the Law “On Communications” and the Code of Administrative Offenses. Only individuals and legal entities who have a power of attorney to act on behalf of the telecom operator. The SIM card seller will be required to include information about the buyer in the contract and send a copy of the signed contract to the operator within 10 days. The requirements for places of sale of SIM cards, conclusion of contracts and provision of other services are also stipulated.

The bill is aimed primarily at the “collapses” of SIM cards on the hoods of cars at train stations, SIM card sellers in underground passages and tent traders who successfully “make connections” in parallel with the sale of shawarma and grilled chicken. Most of these distributors will easily and happily sell a “wrong” SIM card issued to an imaginary person or someone else’s passport. There should be fewer such sellers.

An additional condition in the form of a mandatory power of attorney from the operator will most likely be easily circumvented. Indeed, cell phone companies won’t issue a power of attorney to each promoter? One of possible options- powers of attorney with the right of substitution, issued to the largest dealers. And then sub-powers of attorney can be stamped in quintals and distributed or sold.

Returning to our main topic. There are significantly fewer problems with a SIM card for data transfer, as long as voice communication is completely blocked on it. For such SIM cards, a “light” version of subscriber registration is acceptable and often used. There are probably no administrative obstacles to issuing a second SIM card on one number if this second SIM card can only be used for data transfer.

Data number, for whom?

And who benefits is the key question. Shared Data Bundles scheme (using one traffic package per different devices at the same time) works well and is actively developing abroad. It seems that things have moved forward in Russia as well. Beeline has already begun testing this option in the Central Federal District, and fellow operators are also closely working on this issue.

A second SIM card on the same personal account is beneficial to you and me and, it would seem, not at all beneficial to the operator. Traditionally, one more SIM card automatically equals one more subscriber in statistical reports, and this is important for cell phone providers. But what's even more important is profit. Subject to data connection, a separate SIM card with its own personal account and the tariff is guaranteed to generate more money than an additional SIM card “feeding” from a common bowl. Active users of many devices and simply “zealous owners” have known this for a long time and use pocket routers to provide Internet service to all their devices. Extra hassle, don’t forget to charge another battery, etc., but often the savings are worth it.

Lately Operators themselves are tightening the price screws on mobile Internet, forcing users to buy unlimited phones. 10 rub. for one megabyte at retail, in the home region - an exorbitant price and outright arm-twisting. Relying on smartphone owners and the fact that such people will pay their “tax” of one and a half to two hundred rubles per month in any case. Not at the price of unlimited telephone service, but at retail for default settings ( turning off Wi-Fi in sleep mode), “feeling” the network when changing the connection point, etc. The goal has already been almost achieved, and people are getting used to the fact that mobile cellular Internet in the device implies certain monthly expenses. Therefore, for example, a child on a smartphone mobile transmission data is often turned off altogether.

A separate issue is tablets with a 2G/3G/4G radio module. There are about 20% of them in circulation, but less than a third of the owners of these universal devices use cellular Internet on their tablets. Most people make do with Wi-Fi at home and at work; on the road and in other infrequent situations, you can share the Internet from a smartphone. For such customers, a “duplicate” SIM card would be an ideal solution.

Where is the profit?

A natural question is why the operator needs this. We can probably talk about two main reasons.

• Subscriber loyalty in the approaching era of MNP (number portability). An operator that allows you to “power” several devices from one tariff naturally receives a significant advantage. No matter how profitable and suitable the data tariff of a colleague in the market may be.
• Growth in data revenues. There is no contradiction here; we need to take into account the gradually changing tariff model. They are starting to abandon conditionally unlimited tariffs everywhere, switching to a “small-wholesale” sales scheme mobile internet. For example, in MTS, on data options (with the exception of BITs) and tariffs, the Internet is simply blocked when the quota threshold is reached, then you need to buy a “Turbo button” package. Beeline did an even more elegant thing: after the quota is exhausted, a 200 MB package will be automatically connected for 20 rubles, news. When moving away from fixed fee schemes for conditional unlimited access, the operator begins to be actively interested not in limiting, but in stimulating the subscriber to consume more traffic. And, accordingly, pay more.

"White Crow" Yota

The issue with Yota unlimited is, of course, interesting. The relatively high price of the entrance ticket (in Moscow from 400 rubles/month for a minimum speed of 512 Kbps) and at the same time the “truth” of Yota’s unlimited services make the Shared Data Bundles scheme very tempting for the consumer. On the other hand, there are no Bundles (packages) in Yota, which makes the implementation of the scheme quite technically complex: how to control the access speed of several devices simultaneously through the famous Yota interface with the “speed/subscriber” engine?

And the second aspect is less attractiveness for the operator. Loyalty is a good thing, but with this scheme, with the current Yota model, earning more is very problematic. However, at the presentation of the modem-Wi-Fi router, Igor Torg said that Yota was considering this option for developing its business. Wait and see.

Summary

“One contract - several SIM cards” or “additional SIM cards for the Internet” or Bundle Sharing, you can call it whatever you like. For the consumer, the solution is interesting and useful, but cell phones are unlikely to remain at a loss. Much depends on how it will be implemented and at what tariffs it is available. For example, I very much doubt that they will allow us to “share” a conditionally unlimited option with a speed limit in this way after the quota has been exhausted. Organizational matters also cannot be underestimated; stupid execution can ruin any good idea.

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Sergey Potresov ()

Until recently, one could only dream of a mobile phone. And now it’s not uncommon for one user to have several devices intended for different purposes. The MTS Belarus operator offers such users an innovative service - “TWIN Card Connection”.

Purpose

The client who has written an application to activate the service receives a pair of SIM cards with an identical subscriber number. On each of which you can use voice and Internet communications, as well as other telecommunications services, without restrictions.

The main identifier can be inserted into a smartphone, and the additional identifier into a tablet or phone built into a car. And thus, the subscriber will always be in touch, will not miss an important message, and will respond to greetings left on social networks.

The applicant chooses the format of the additional SIM independently depending on the device:

• mini-SIM;
• micro-SIM;
• nano-SIM.

Operating mode

While at an MTS service point, the client is determined by the size of the main and additional SIM cards. If necessary, the equipment can be changed by contacting the salon specialists.

Alternate

This format of work assumes that the subscriber is issued two new SIM cards of standard sizes at once. Only one of them can be active on the network. That is, while the subscriber is talking on one phone, the second one is turned off.

Simultaneous

You can immediately apply for two SIM cards or, having a primary ID, apply for an additional one if necessary. The subscriber indicates the type of additional card at the time of filling out the application at the representative office. When ordering the service, the subscriber can change the type of main SIM card free of charge.

Incoming call settings

The user has the right to configure incoming call so that the call will be:

• parallel, that is, arriving simultaneously on two devices;
• sequential, when a call arrives on one device, but if it is unavailable, it arrives on the second.

Price

The cost of the kit and connection is 15.00 Belarusian rubles, including government taxes and fees. Funds are debited from your balance once upon connection. Subscription fee not charged.

Sending technological requests that allow you to manage the “TWIN Card Connection” service is free of charge.

Each mobile ID is charged according to the terms of the connected tariff plan.

Description of service« Double number»
MTS launched MTS for corporate subscribers new service — "Double number", which will allow all users to simultaneously use two MTS numbers connected to a single SIM card. The service will soon be introduced for individuals. This is great news.

“Today, many Russians use multiple SIM cards, so phones with support for two SIM cards or SIM cards with dual numbers are in demand. MTS offers subscribers a convenient and at the same time profitable solution that allows them to be in touch on two numbers at the same time, using one telephone set. At the same time, users have a unique opportunity to separate their communication on personal and work issues, and effectively control communication costs.”

MTS Vice President for Commercial Affairs Mikhail Gerchuk noted.

Main advantage « Double number» is that you can simultaneously use two MTS numbers on a regular (phones that do not support two SIM cards) telephone. Regular, without dual SIM support, Cell phones, in general, cost much less.

In addition to this, the service « Double number » provides the opportunity to separate work and personal communication between employees (i.e. the opportunity to share costs for cellular communication between employee and employer).

Advantages of the “Double Room” service

1. Use two MTS numbers simultaneously in one telephone set
2. Separate your personal and work communications, which means splitting the costs of cellular communications between the employee and the employer
3. Combine different MTS tariffs on one SIM card at the same time: profitable calls and cheap Internet access
4. Save incoming communications (calls, SMS messages) when switching to new number MTS

This is a unique SIM card with a service that includes a service for using and switching between two MTS numbers:
MTS number 1 - your main MTS number;
MTS number 2 is your additional MTS number.

“Double room” service will allow you to make and receive calls, receive and send SMS/MMS messages, as well as use other MTS services from any of two numbers connected to one SIM card. In this case, invoices for communication services can be issued either together or separately in accordance with the tariff plan you previously selected.

With the “Double Number” service you can separate your work and personal communication.

How to connect« Double number» ?
Answer: At the moment the service is available only for corporate subscribers
To activate the “Double Number” service, you need to contact your personal manager and receive a new special SIM card for free. For this you will need:

• buy a SIM card with the service "Double number"
• or exchange your old SIM card for new map with the MTS “Double Number” service and buy a new second SIM card
• or replace your two old MTS SIM cards with one with the “Double number” service

How to disable the service« Double number» ?

Answer: If you need to disable the MTS “Double Number” service, you can do it like this:

• can you send the code 21962 to a toll-free number 111
• or by dialing a free request *111*2196*2#
• or call the MTS helpline

The “TWIN Card Connection” service allows the subscriber to use 2 SIM cards with one subscriber number. The service is provided to all MTS subscribers.

SIM cards provided as part of the “TWIN Card Connection” service can be used with subscriber equipment:

• simultaneously(two SIM cards are simultaneously active in the MTS network).

"Simultaneous" mode:

In this mode of operation of SIM cards, two new SIM cards are provided to the subscriber upon application for the provision of the “TWIN Card Connection” service in the MTS salon.

If the subscriber already has a valid SIM card provided previously, a second SIM card can be issued in addition to it, without replacing the existing SIM card.

For “simultaneous” operation of TWIN cards, the subscriber can be provided with SIM cards of various sizes (SIM + SIM, SIM + micro-SIM, micro-SIM + micro-SIM, etc.). The types of SIM cards are indicated by the subscriber in the application for the provision of the service. If a subscriber wishes to change the type of SIM card used when ordering the “TWIN Card Connection” service, this replacement is not charged;

When two SIM cards operate “simultaneously”, the subscriber can choose to set the following settings for receiving incoming calls:

• "parallel dialing"(the call is received simultaneously on 2 SIM cards)
• "sequential dialing"(the call is received on SIM card No. 1; in case of busyness, hang-up, no answer within 40 seconds or the subscriber is unavailable, the call is received on SIM card No. 2). The type of dialing is determined by the subscriber and is indicated in the application for the provision of the service. The dialing type can be changed by the subscriber by contacting the MTS Communications Salon or Contact Center MTS.

When setting “sequential dialing”, the dialing order can be determined and changed by the subscriber independently using the following commands:

Reception of SMS and MMS messages is possible only on one SIM card for both “serial” and “parallel” modes of operation of SIM cards.

The serial number of the SIM card defined for receiving incoming SMS and MMS messages can be determined and changed by the subscriber independently using the following commands:

When sending a USSD request, USSD response messages are sent to each of the SIM cards used.

With any of the SIM card operating modes and dialing options, outgoing calls can be made from any SIM card at the subscriber's discretion.

When two SIM cards are used simultaneously, some services are provided with the following restrictions:

• “Personal BOOK” - the melodies of the “Personal BOOK” service are played only when calling from one SIM card (the “main” SIM card that was issued when connecting to the MTS network)
• “TONING” - the melodies of the “TONING” service are not played during “sequential dialing” on the second SIM card, if the phone with the first SIM card is out of network coverage or is turned off.
• “Stay informed” - pop-up messages within the service are sent to one SIM card (the “main” SIM card that was issued when connecting to the MTS network)
• SMS notifications within the “Connected” and “You have been called” services are sent only to one SIM card (card for receiving SMS and MMS messages). If parallel dialing is installed, the “You have been called” service is activated and one of the SIM cards is turned off, then the SIM card designated as a card for receiving SMS and MMS messages will receive SMS notifications about missed calls.

What is the price?

The cost of the “TWIN card connection” service will be 25.00 rubles including VAT.

Technological USSD requests used as part of managing the “TWIN Card Connection” service are not charged.

The provision of any communication services is charged for each SIM card on which the corresponding traffic was generated, in accordance with the tariff plan subscriber number, regardless of the mode of use of SIM cards (alternate or simultaneous).

Where can I buy?

You can purchase a TWIN card at.

The “TWIN Card Connection” service is subject to availability Money to write off the cost of connecting the service from the balance of the personal account of the subscriber number. If it is necessary to replace any of the SIM cards, the subscriber must contact the MTS Communications Salon and fill out the appropriate application for replacing the SIM card. SIM card replacement is paid by the subscriber in accordance with the tariff for the “SIM Card Replacement” service. If the SIM card fails due to technical reasons not related to the subscriber's actions, there is no charge for replacing the SIM card.

To refuse to provide the “TWIN Card Connection” service, the subscriber must contact the MTS Communications Salon.

By ordering the “TWIN Card Connection” service, the subscriber thereby confirms that he is familiar with and agrees with these rules for its provision.

Restrictions

Connecting or using a TWIN card is not available on tariff plan“Unlimited”, as well as if you have the “Corporate Unlimited Internet” service connected. If the connection subscriber has the “Internet for Home” service, then connecting a TWIN card is technically possible, but he will be able to use data transfer only on one device.