IR Blog

We have launched commercial 3G network in Belarus this week. The network is based on the HSPA+ technology, allowing up to 21 Mbit/s download and 11 Mbit/s upload speeds. The network is currently available in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and will be expanded to the major cities and regional centers of the country by the end of the year.

In addition, we have fulfilled our 3G license requirement for the commercial 3G network in Russia following the launch of the network in the last remaining federal subject, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. As of today, MTS has commercial 3G networks in all Russian federal subjects.

3G network in Moscow, as of January 15, 2010.

At the end of December 2009, we launched our commercial 3G network in Moscow, complementing our existing coverage in the Moscow region and throughout Russia. At the time of launch, our network consisted of 197 base stations, which allowed us to offer extensive coverage within the MKAD (the so-called beltway, or highway, that surrounds Moscow) to a population of over 10 million.  By the end of January, we will have installed up to 300 base stations to serve Russia's capital.  For the latest network map, click here.

We estimate that data traffic has already increased 2-3 times in areas where both 2G and 3G networks are available, compared to the traffic prior to the launch of 3G. Currently, we have a variety of special tariffs for 3G users, including unlimited ones.

Mobile Internet is taking off rapidly in Russia, as all three national mobile operators already operate 3G networks and offer mobile Internet modems. We have been selling the MTS Connect modem in Russia since early 2008 and have sold over 600,000 modems since July 2008, as 3G networks were launched across the country. Currently, we estimate that around 200,000 modems are being sold monthly in Russia by mobile operators, CDMA operators and WiMAX providers, and MTS Connect accounts for around 30% of the total.

Yesterday, we announced a partnership with Intel to support the uptake of mobile Internet solutions in Russia. The first joint initiative under this partnership is a promotion of a bundled offer that will include an Intel-powered netbook, an MTS Connect modem and a special MTS tariff plan.

Today we have brought 3G to the underground world of Moscow. The first 3G network in the Moscow Metro was launched on Universitet station, named after the nearby Moscow State University.

Moscow Metro is the main public transport of the capital carrying about 9 mln passengers on a typical week day (2008 data, source: Moscow Metro Annual Report 2008). We are certain that gaining access to fast data connections through 3G will appeal to passengers, as they can read the latest news, send emails or browse the Internet using their mobile devices. In order to spur the uptake in familiarity and usage of 3G-enabled services, we decided to launch the first phase of the network on the station where the younger educated crowd is commuting to one of the most prestigious universities in Russia. In fact, we have noticed that in the Russian cities where 3G networks have already been launched, students and young people are some of the heaviest users of the new services enabled by 3G.

Our CTO Andrei Ushatskiy noted today that MTS was the first operator to bring mobile networks to the Moscow Metro in 2000, and that we continue to bring innovative solutions to our customers traveling underground. We are planning to expand 3G networks in the Moscow Metro and cover all the stations on one of the busiest lines, Koltsevaya (Ring Line), during this Fall.

For more information about our 3G network expansion in Russia, please see our post from June 22.

In Ukraine, MTS has been offering a mobile Internet access solution MTS Connect 3G on high-speed CDMA 2000 1хEV-DO Rev.A network since late 2007. We would like to share some interesting stats about the uptake of the service, which has proven to be very popular in a country with very limited fixed broadband penetration.

As of today, our network is available in over 150 cities and communities across the country, effectively covering all the major population centers. At this point, we are no longer focused on expanding the network but rather on increasing its capacity to account for data traffic growth.