Russian Telecom Operators Strengthen Their Positions in the Advertising Market in 2025
In 2025, Russia’s telecom operators significantly strengthened their positions in the advertising market, actively developing their own platforms and entering into strategic partnerships with one another.
Searching for New Revenue Opportunities
The range of services offered by Russian telecom players has long extended beyond traditional connectivity and voice services. Operators are expanding into multiple adjacent areas in search of additional revenue streams. One of the most prominent directions has been AdTech, where telecom companies provide targeted advertising services based on big data technologies.
Over the course of 2025, a clear shift emerged away from building isolated platforms toward cooperation through partnership agreements. In late August, for example, MTS and Beeline signed a cooperation agreement focused on advertising targeting within Telegram.
Importantly, the partnership did not involve creating a single unified platform. Advertisers retained the ability to choose between the operators’ respective dashboards and configure campaigns using data on geography, interests, and other parameters. A key component of the partnership was access to real-time campaign performance analytics, along with advanced measurement tools such as Brand Lift and Sales Lift studies. These tools allow advertisers to assess the impact of ad spending on brand metrics and sales performance.
The partners expect to improve advertising quality on Telegram by leveraging aggregated, anonymized data from telecom operators and their partners. This approach enables coverage of nearly 60% of Telegram users in Russia.
MMS Makes a Comeback
In mid-September, MTS signed another AdTech partnership, this time with MegaFon. The operators agreed to integrate their infrastructure for delivering advertising and informational messages to subscribers, specifically focusing on MMS-based advertising campaigns.
“If we had built a similar system from scratch, it would have taken more than a year of development. In a partnership format, the solution became operational immediately,” said Vladimir Farafonov, head of digital advertising and information products at MTS AdTech.
As a result, advertisers gained the ability to send campaigns to subscribers of the partner operator through a unified channel.
“Businesses are increasingly using MMS in their advertising campaigns. However, to improve delivery conversion rates, our clients previously had to run campaigns through two separate platforms, depending on which operator their customers used. We simplified this process, making communication seamless, precise, and efficient,” said Alexander Alkhimov, director of advertising and telecom products at MegaFon.
More New Players Enter the Market
At the same time, telecom operators in 2025 focused not only on partnerships but also on strengthening their own AdTech platforms. New players entered the market. One notable example is T2, which launched its own advertising vertical, T2 AdTech. The decision to create the platform was made in 2024, when the operator acquired Yabbi, Redllama, and Plazkart.
For its clients, T2 offers a new audience platform built on Stable ID technology. The platform combines advanced AI solutions, anti-fraud technologies, and access to both proprietary and partner inventory, including assets from Rostelecom.
T2 AdTech is concentrating on three key areas: developing innovative and in-demand products, expanding the capabilities of existing solutions, and building long-term strategic partnerships with advertisers, inventory suppliers, and technology companies. Immediately after launch, clients gained access to targeted campaigns via TG Ads based on large-scale segmented data, mobile performance advertising, online-to-offline analytics, including programmatic buying and other tools. These solutions allow businesses to calculate campaign impact with a high degree of accuracy.
In practical terms, 2025 marked a turning point in which Russian telecom operators significantly strengthened their role in the country’s advertising market, evolving into major AdTech players. They found new ways to monetize the data accumulated through telecom services, while their in-house development capabilities made them less vulnerable to external market pressures.
