IR Blog

Today, we have released our subscriber numbers for the month of January 2010. Below is a table outlining the dynamics of our customer base.

Subscribers (mln)	Jan 31, 2010	Dec 31, 2009	Growth Subs	Growth %	Jan 31, 2009	Growth Subs	Growth %
Total consolidated subscribers, eop	97.46	97.81	(0.35)	(0.4%)	91.40	6.06	6.6%
Russia	68.88	69.34	(0.46)	(0.7%)	64.49	4.39	6.8%
Ukraine	17.52	17.56	(0.04)	(0.2%)	18.15	(0.63)	(3.4%)
Uzbekistan	7.19	7.07	0.12	1.7%	5.73	1.46	25.4%
Turkmenistan	1.79	1.76	0.03	1.6%	1.00	0.79	78.5%
Armenia	2.08	2.07	0.01	0.2%	2.03	0.05	2.4%
MTS Belarus1	4.55	4.56	(0.01)	(0.2%)	4.37	0.18	4.2%

Subscriber data for Russian mobile operators is compiled by Advanced Communications and Media, a management consulting and research agency specializing in telecommunications and media. You can view their January subscriber report here.

¹ MTS owns a 49% stake in Mobile TeleSystems LLC, a mobile operator in Belarus, which is not consolidated.

          
MTS 835, 3G-enabled phone with a 2 megapixel camera and a 2.4 inch screen

We have been selling MTS-branded phones since the end of last year through our monobrand retail network in Russia. Currently, we have a total of four models on offer ranging from a basic model at 980 rubles* (or around $32**) - one of the most affordable in the market - to a 3G-enabled one at a very attractive price point  of 6,490 rubles (or around $215).
 
Lower-end phone models dominate in Russia, and we estimate that phones for under 5,000 rubles (around $165) accounted for over 35% of the market in 2009. This price point is attractive to customers who are buying their first phone, but also to those that want a phone for a second line or to use during vacation.

So far, we are quite pleased with the sales of MTS-branded phones. At the end of 2009, MTS was among the top five mobile phone brands, accounting for approximately 2% of the market in Q4’2009 (based on our estimates, in terms of sales of devices). During the months of November and December, MTS-branded phones accounted for 15% of phone sales through the MTS monobrand network. MTS-236, the entry-level model, was one of the 10 most popular models in December.

Earlier this week MTS became the only Russian telecommunications company to obtain the ISO 9001:2008 certificate of conformity for its Quality Management System that covers all of our locations in Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The certification audit was conducted by SGS, the global leader in inspection, verification, testing and certification services.

 From left to right: Alexander Gamov – Director of the Quality Assurance Department at MTS, Peter Marriott – Vice-President of SGS SA, Konstantin Timoshechkin – Manager in charge of business development at SGS S.A. (Eastern Europe).

By Timothy Doherty, Research Analyst for Small and Medium Business Mobility Markets for IDC

IDC has recently published a report examining the small and medium business initiatives of MTS, and we wanted to share the key insights here on the MTS IR Blog.

As in other regions worldwide, the small and medium-business (SMB) market in Russia represents a significant untapped revenue opportunity for operators, but presents a number of challenges. SMBs typically have fewer IT resources than large enterprises to rely on when making technology purchase decisions, making customer education vital. Although the SMB market in aggregate constitutes a substantial opportunity, each individual customer represents a relatively modest volume; efficiencies in marketing and ongoing customer support are therefore of paramount importance. MTS has implemented a number of strategies in its core Russian market to target the small and medium-sized business market.

Earlier in August, we have opened the doors of our new flagship store in Moscow. The new store is located on the first floor of the Evropeiskiy shopping center, one of the more popular locations with the residents of Moscow. Around 190,000 people visit the center daily and over 220,000 per day come there during the weekend, according to the data provided by the shopping center.

The new flagship store is part of the development of MTS’ monobrand retail network in Russia, which includes the acquisition of multibrand retailers, increasing franchisees and the rebranding and optimization of existing locations. The key focus of MTS’ retail strategy is to provide personalized customer service and better tailored products, including exclusive devices bundled with applications developed by MTS. For instance, we have recently launched Nokia’s N97 mobile computer exclusively in our retail network.

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.

On August 11, we disclosed our financial results for the second quarter 2009. As always, we posted a lot of information about the results on our website – the press release, the presentation and the Excel spreadsheet with summary financial information for 2004-2009. In the presentation, we have included detailed slides about our future strategic priorities, logic behind the intent to acquire a controlling stake in COMSTAR-UTS (see the original press release), as well as more insight into our retail development and handset distribution in Russia.

On the conference call, we have commented that there was a general improvement in our operating environment in Q2, aided by seasonal and organic growth factors. The Group recorded 12% q-o-q revenue growth to over $2.0 billion US dollars, driven by 2.8 million new subscribers and a seasonal improvement in usage.

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.

Here are the two MTS ads that are currently airing in Russia - one about the joint launch of Nokia N97 and the other touting summer roaming offers (click on "more" below to view the second one).

Check it out!