The State Commission for Radio Frequencies (SCRF) has decided that independent virtual mobile operators will not be able to provide 5G services to customers. The only exceptions are Rostelecom and Yota, which are part of the same group as major infrastructure operators.

Simply put, access to the new standard was granted to Beeline, MegaFon, MTS, and T2, as well as their associated Rostelecom and Yota. Other MVNOs – operators that sell communication under their own brand but operate on someone else's network – remain outside of 5G for now.

MegaFon considers this approach logical: it is the major players who invest in network construction, obtain frequencies, and undertake coverage obligations. SberMobile, on the other hand, fears that the restriction will put virtual operators in unequal conditions and reduce competition.

However, there is no full-fledged commercial 5G in Russia yet – currently, it's about tests and pilot launches. Therefore, part of the market expects that the rules may still be revised by the time of mass implementation.

The scale of the issue is already significant: according to ComNews Research, Russian MVNOs served over 40 million SIM cards in 2025. If 5G access for them does not change, the new network may be unavailable to millions of subscribers, regardless of which major operator's infrastructure their SIM card operates on.