IR Blog

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

Subscribers (mln)	Jul 31, 2010	Jun 30, 2010	Growth Subs	Growth %	Jul 31, 2009	Growth Subs	Growth %
Total consolidated subscribers, eop	99.21	98.82	0.39	0.4%	95.65	3.56	3.7%
Russia	69.30	69.42	(0.12)	(0.2%)	67.93	1.37	2.0%
Ukraine	17.71	17.52	0.19	1.1%	17.79	(0.08)	(0.5%)
Uzbekistan	7.81	7.59	0.22	2.8%	6.55	1.25	19.1%
Turkmenistan	2.24	2.17	0.08	3.6%	1.33	0.92	69.2%
Armenia	2.15	2.13	0.03	1.3%	2.04	0.11	5.4%
MTS Belarus1	4.60	4.58	0.02	0.4%	4.50	0.09	2.0%

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 July subscriber report here.

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

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

Subscribers (mln)	Jun 30, 2010	May 31, 2010	Growth Subs	Growth %	Jun 30, 2009	Growth Subs	Growth %
Total consolidated subscribers, eop	98.82	98.98	(0.16)	(0.2%)	95.03	3.79	4.0%
Russia	69.42	69.85	(0.43)	(0.6%)	67.42	2.00	3.0%
Ukraine	17.52	17.44	0.08	0.4%	17.78	(0.26)	(1.5%)
Uzbekistan	7.59	7.48	0.12	1.5%	6.53	1.06	16.3%
Turkmenistan	2.17	2.10	0.06	3.1%	1.25	0.91	72.8%
Armenia	2.13	2.11	0.01	0.5%	2.05	0.08	3.9%
MTS Belarus1	4.58	4.56	0.02	0.3%	4.48	0.09	2.1%

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 June subscriber report here.

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

Today we are issuing a report on mobile retail in Russia during Q2 2010, based on the estimates from our mobile retail network. You can download it here.

Highlights from the report:
- During the first half of 2010, the number of phones sold in Russia is set to increase by around 24% compared to the same period of 2009
- At the end of the first half of 2010, mobile handset market in Russia is expected to reach 63.9 bln rubles in sales
- The average price of mobile phones on the market during Q2 2010 was 4,303 rubles, approximately 74% of devices sold through our stores were below 5,000 rubles
- The market share of MTS retail network grew to 13.9% in Q2 2010, an increase of 6.9 percentage points compared with the second quarter of 2009 (in unit sales)
- MTS-branded handset MTS 236 was the most popular device sold through the MTS retail network, accounting for 13.2% of total units sold

Please download the compete report here:

 Mobile retail report Q2 2010

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

Subscribers (mln)	May 31, 2010	Apr 30, 2010	Growth Subs	Growth %	May 31, 2009	Growth Subs	Growth %
Total consolidated subscribers, eop	98.98	98.65	0.33	0.3%	93.98	5.00	5.3%
Russia	69.85	69.73	0.12	0.2%	66.47	3.38	5.1%
Ukraine	17.44	17.37	0.07	0.4%	17.73	(0.29)	(1.6%)
Uzbekistan	7.48	7.43	0.05	0.7%	6.51	0.97	14.9%
Turkmenistan	2.10	2.01	0.09	4.7%	1.23	0.87	70.3%
Armenia	2.11	2.11	0.00	0.0%	2.04	0.08	3.7%
MTS Belarus1	4.56	4.57	0.00	(0.1%)	4.44	0.12	2.8%

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 May subscriber report here.

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

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

Subscribers (mln)	Apr 30, 2010	Mar 31, 2010	Growth Subs	Growth %	Apr 30, 2009	Growth Subs	Growth %
Total consolidated subscribers, eop	98.65	97.81	0.84	0.9%	93.03	5.62	6.0%
Russia	69.73	69.08	0.64	0.9%	65.68	4.05	6.2%
Ukraine	17.37	17.35	0.02	0.1%	17.82	(0.45)	(2.5%)
Uzbekistan	7.43	7.38	0.05	0.7%	6.30	1.12	17.8%
Turkmenistan	2.01	1.90	0.11	5.8%	1.18	0.83	70.7%
Armenia	2.11	2.11	0.01	0.3%	2.06	0.06	2.9%
MTS Belarus1	4.57	4.57	0.00	(0.1%)	4.41	0.16	3.6%

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 April subscriber report here.

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

    

Last week we signed an agreement to create a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using MTS’ network with the X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia’s largest retailer in terms of sales. X5 will offer its customers special tariffs that they can subscribe to at the Perekrestok and Karusel stores in Moscow and the Moscow region. It is expected that the launch will take place by the end of summer 2010. This is the second project that MTS has concluded as part of its efforts to expand its distribution channels. Previously, in May 2009, MTS partnered with Auchan, one of the world’s largest food retailers, enabling the company to offer its A-Mobile tariff plan through its stores in Russia.

Today we announced our plans to offer Comstar’s products and services under the MTS brand by the end of 2011. After the rebranding is completed, MTS will offer a full range of fixed and mobile communication products under the MTS brand throughout Russia, expanding the presence of our brand and leveraging its strength to sell additional products. We will keep the MGTS brand for fixed telephony in Moscow, as it is one of oldest brands in Russia with roots in the 19th century.

The MTS brand has been recognized as the most powerful and valuable brand in Russia for the last three years by the annual BrandZ ranking published by the Financial Times and Millward Brown. Given the popularity of the MTS brand in its markets of operation, where the Company is renowned for its quality of services and its ability to introduce new innovative products and services, it is logical that we have decided to use the MTS brand for our combined services portfolio.

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

Subscribers (mln)	March 31 2010	Feb 28, 2010	Growth Subs	Growth %	March 31, 2009	Growth Subs	Growth %
Total consolidated subscribers, eop	97.81	97.76	0.05	0.1%	92.19	5.62	6.1%
Russia	69.08	69.17	(0.09)	(0.1%)	65.11	3.97	6.1%
Ukraine	17.35	17.39	(0.04)	(0.2%)	17.94	(0.59)	(3.3%)
Uzbekistan	7.38	7.29	0.09	1.2%	5.97	1.41	23.5%
Turkmenistan	1.90	1.82	0.08	4.0%	1.12	0.78	68.6%
Armenia	2.11	2.10	0.01	0.5%	2.05	0.06	2.9%
MTS Belarus1	4.57	4.55	0.02	0.4%	4.42	0.15	3.5%

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 March subscriber report here.

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

We are launching an instant money transfer service using our retail network to provide customers with the ability to make money transfers in Russia and abroad. This will allow us to expand our service portfolio, as well as to attract more customers to our retail stores.

Currently, customers can transfer money after paying a commission that amounts to 1.6% of the total amount for intra-Russia transfers and 2% for transfers to the CIS. In the near future, the service will expand outside of the CIS to include transfers to such countries as Bulgaria, Germany, Israel, Spain, Italy, Canada, China, Poland, Vietnam, the UK and the USA. Customers can make use of the service at all MTS-owned stores in Russia - the current list of locations is available on our Russian-language website.

One of our major initiatives in 2009 was the rapid expansion of our mobile retail network and distribution of devices through it. As we have indicated in our Q4 and FY 2009 results presentation, we have sold over 2 million handsets through our network during 2009, gaining a market share of 11.7% by the end of the year (from just over 2% in Q1 2009).

Today we are issuing a report on mobile retail in Russia during Q1 2010, based on the estimates from our mobile retail network. You can download it here.