A situation familiar to millions of subscribers in Russia: you get a new SIM card, and a couple of days later your phone starts blowing up with calls. Debt collectors are looking for some Ivan Petrovich. “Sberbank” is reporting an overdue loan. Courier services are asking to confirm a delivery address. And all of this is because your “new” number isn’t actually new at all. Someone else used it before you, and their digital footprint has now become your headache. Russian carriers have finally addressed this problem. MTS, MegaFon, and Beeline have one after another launched the “Clean Number” service. Let’s break down what it is, how much it costs, and who really needs it.
Clean Number can now be purchased in Russia from three carriers at once
What Is a “Clean Number” and How It Differs from a Regular One
When you walk into a mobile store for a new SIM card, the carrier gives you a number from the general pool. The problem is that most phone number combinations have already been in someone else’s hands. After the previous owner stopped using the number, it sits in quarantine for a while and then goes back on sale. But quarantine doesn’t erase the digital history: the number may still be in spammer databases, linked to someone else’s Telegram, WhatsApp accounts, banking apps, and government services portals.
A “Clean Number” is a fundamentally different story. It’s a phone number combination that has either never been used on the carrier’s network at all, or has undergone thorough verification for the absence of any unwanted activity. Such a number has zero digital reputation: it’s not linked to anyone’s accounts, it’s not in fraudster or debt collector databases, which means the chances of receiving an unwanted call on the very first day are close to zero.
Carriers That Offer Clean Numbers
MTS was the pioneer: the carrier started selling clean numbers back in the summer of 2025. MTS takes a technological approach. Each number goes through verification via the MTS BigData system before sale: specialists analyze whether it appears in data breach and spam mailing databases. If everything is clear, the number receives the corresponding label and goes on sale. You can register it with any plan, both in-store and online. The number of clean numbers is limited, so availability in a specific region is best checked in advance.
The cost of a clean number at MTS depends on the region
MegaFon launched its version of the service on September 16, 2025. Their approach is even stricter: the carrier guarantees that the number has never been registered on the network at all. It’s not “verified” — it’s literally a completely new number with no previous history. It has no owners, no links to services, no digital footprint. You can choose and activate such a number at MegaFon stores or in the carrier’s online shop.
MegaFon set a fixed price — 600 rubles
Beeline also joined the trend. According to the carrier’s description, a clean number from Beeline is “an absolutely new number that has never belonged to anyone and has never been used on the network.” Among its advantages, Beeline particularly highlights the absence from spam databases and strangers’ phone books. You can choose a clean number from the showcase in Beeline’s online store. During the winter of 2025–2026, the carrier even ran a promotion: clean numbers (not from the premium category) were given away for free, but the fee has since been reinstated — 500 rubles.
Beeline lets you choose not just a clean number, but also a vanity number. Prices start at 500 rubles
As for T2 (formerly Tele2), the carrier is currently only considering the possibility of launching a similar service.
Price for a Clean Number at MTS, MegaFon, and Beeline
The cost of a clean number varies across carriers, but the most interesting part is that since the launch of this service, prices have dropped considerably. For example, MTS in some regions lowered the price from 600 to 150 rubles, and Beeline even made it free for a while.
| Carrier | Cost | What It Guarantees |
|---|---|---|
| MTS | from 150 ₽ | BigData verification for spam activity and data breaches |
| MegaFon | 600 ₽ | Number has never been used on the carrier’s network |
| Beeline | 500 rubles for a regular clean number | Absolutely new number, never previously used |
| T2 | Service not yet launched | — |
Prices are listed as of the publication date and may vary by region. Free clean numbers are generally not available in the catalogs: even the simplest combinations cost money. For comparison, vanity numbers from the same carriers cost thousands and tens of thousands of rubles, so these amounts for a clean number look quite reasonable.
When a Clean Number Is Truly Useful
At first glance, it seems like another marketing gimmick: carriers are simply charging money for a “fresh” SIM card. But when you look closely, there are quite a few situations where a clean number really comes in handy.
- A child or elderly relative. If you’re buying a SIM card for your mom, grandmother, or child, spam calls can become a serious problem for them. Scammers call “from the bank,” scare people with account freezes, and demand they dictate an SMS code. A person without experience can get confused and lose money. A clean number reduces these risks from day one.
- Business. Opening a work number for a company or sole proprietorship? The last thing you want is for your potential clients to first hear that “the subscriber owes on a loan.” A clean number for business is not a luxury but basic hygiene.
- Digital identification. A phone number has long become a digital passport. People use it to log into banking apps, government service portals, and messengers. If the number previously belonged to someone else, the first time you authorize in Telegram, someone else’s account with an unknown chat history might “pop up.” With a clean number, this won’t happen.
- Personal peace of mind. Sometimes you just want a number without baggage. Without calls from strangers, without ending up in someone’s contact list, without debt collectors and robocallers. This privilege is well worth a few hundred rubles.
How to Keep Your Number Clean After Purchase
It’s important not to have any illusions here. A number’s cleanliness is a starting condition, not a lifetime immunity. Experts from “Roskachestvo” (Russian Quality) directly warn: if you start leaving your number on dubious websites, subscribing to newsletters from sketchy stores, and entering it in open forms, it will sooner or later end up in spam databases. And no amount of “cleanliness” at the time of purchase will protect against that.
