Kommersant, citing a study by network monitoring developer Vigo, reported that in July only 30.5% of user sessions on mobile networks in Russia's Central Federal District ran without restrictions. In more than 60% of cases, users could only access resources from the 'white list' maintained by the Digital Development Ministry.
Vigo analyzed about 1 billion user sessions. Since January, the share of connections operating in 'white list' mode in Central Russia has grown by an average of 31%.
The data varies significantly by region. As of July 31, about 49% of sessions in Moscow and the Moscow region ran without restrictions, 43.9% in St. Petersburg, and 58.9% in the Leningrad region. The best figures were in the Jewish Autonomous Region (75.7% of sessions without 'white lists'), Tuva (72.3%) and the Magadan region (69%).
The situation is worst in border regions: in the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions, nearly 90% of connections run through 'white lists'. There, only 12% of sessions at the end of July occurred without restrictions.
Experts interviewed by Kommersant note that mobile operators have begun restructuring tariff plans and more actively developing fixed broadband internet access as a result. Users, in turn, are more frequently changing tariffs and operators because they use mobile internet less.