Operators Begin Warning Russians About Disabling Apple ID Transfers

iPhone users in Russia will not be able to top up their Apple ID balance from their mobile phone account starting April 1st. According to RBC, the "big four" operators received the corresponding instruction at a meeting with the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, on March 28, three sources in the telecom market reported.

According to one of the sources, the operators were told that it was necessary to limit the ability to pay for VPN services.

Currently, it is possible to pay for subscriptions and purchases in the Apple ecosystem directly from a mobile account with MTS and VimpelCom (Beeline brand). T2 Mobile (T2 brand) and MegaFon offer this option through partner services.

MegaFon, T2 Mobile, and VimpelCom declined to comment. RBC sent requests to MTS and the Ministry of Digital Development.

Through a mobile account, users could pay for subscriptions, games, and purchases in applications from the App Store. This includes not only games, but also regular payments: iCloud+ cloud storage, music in Apple Music, movies and TV series in Apple TV+, and other services.

MTS and Beeline have already recommended that users top up their Apple ID balance in advance through the Apple Store app. Such SMS messages, as RBC notes, were received by correspondents of the publication, among others.

In the Beeline application, subscribers were also advised to deposit funds in advance — for example, for a year ahead, in order to maintain access to subscriptions "in case of possible disconnections from all operators."

Despite the fact that Apple is no longer the leader in sales of new smartphones, at the end of last year, the company's devices accounted for the largest share among smartphones in the hands of MTS, MegaFon, and Beeline subscribers. For example, in the MTS network, the share of iPhone users was 22%.