The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has deemed the advertisement for MegaFon's "5G mode" service unreliable. According to the agency, the commercial, which was broadcast on federal TV channels from April to May 2026, could have created a misleading impression among subscribers about the availability of fifth-generation communication networks, even though their commercial implementation in Russia had not yet taken place at that time. Now, FAS will consider bringing the operator to administrative responsibility.

As the agency informed Kommersant, the advertisement was broadcast from April to May. The commercial offered subscribers to enable "5G mode" in the mobile application. According to FAS, such a presentation could have created the impression that users were gaining access to fifth-generation communication, although there was no commercial implementation of this technology in Russia at that time.

MegaFon was surprised by the regulator's decision. The company stated that the advertisement was consistent with the essence of the service — the operator, according to them, offered to increase internet speed to values comparable to 5G network performance.

At the same time, the company reported that it had not yet received the reasoned part of the FAS decision. After the document is received, MegaFon will determine further actions.

Claims regarding 5G advertising arose from the regulator back in summer

In June, the FAS expert council recommended that operators adjust their advertising campaigns so that subscribers would not get a false impression of the availability of a commercial fifth-generation network. In August, the service initiated a case against MegaFon due to the promotion of "5G mode".

The situation with the launch of 5G has changed since then — commercial fifth-generation networks in Russia began operating on September 11, 2026.