Moscow, Russian Federation, January 24th, 2001 — Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT), Russia’s largest GSM 900/1800 mobile operator, announced today the first operational results of its Yaroslavl branch. During the first month of MTS’s operations in Yaroslavl, the network was already joined by 1800 new subscribers.
MTS’s Yaroslavl network was launched in mid December 2000. MTS had completed the construction of its network in the Yaroslavl Region earlier the same year, and integrated it into the overall MTS network infrastructure as of March 3, 2000. MTS’s whole network in the region is built with the use of Siemens equipment.
As of today, six base stations have been installed in Yaroslavl, three in Rybinsk, and one base station in each of the following towns: Rostov Veliky, Uglich, Tutaev, Pereyaslavl-Zalesky, located on the federal highway “Moscow-Yaroslavl”. The installation of base stations provided for practically full coverage of these territories by MTS’s network. Two more base stations are to be installed in the near future, thus bringing the total number of base stations in the Yaroslavl Region to 23. The network’s capacity allows to handle up to 30,000 numbers.
Commenting on these results Vladimir Bychek, Director of MTS Yaroslavl branch, said: “Yaroslavl inhabitants can now enjoy the advantages of the state-of-the-art cellular GSM standard services provided by MTS. Today MTS is the only mobile operator in the region to offer roaming in more than 350 towns throughout Russia and in 88 countries worldwide. Moreover, MTS now has the largest GSM network in the country and provides cellular communications services in 21 regions of Russia. Reduced tariffs of within-the-network roaming substantially decrease the cost of communications for MTS customers who may be hundreds of kilometers away from their native town.”
MTS in Yaroslavl currently offers its subscribers two different tariff plans with federal seven-digit numbers (area code 902 and 910). The “Basic” tariff plan is geared towards businessmen and managers who make a lot of business-related national calls. The “Regional” tariff plan is designed for those who use mobile phones for essential calls only. Both “Basic” and “Regional” tariff plans have per second tariffing after the first minute, whilst incoming calls from MTS mobile handsets located within the same switch coverage zone are free of charge.
MTS is constantly focusing on the quality of its service. Its customer service centers offer a full range of facilities, including sales offices, payment receiving, financial control and customer care services. Subscribers to MTS Yaroslavl network can now sign contracts, purchase handsets, add and cancel value added services, make payments — all in the same office located at the following address: 30, Pobedy St, Yaroslavl.
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For further information contact:
MTS
Press Secretary
Eva Prokofyeva
tel: +7 (0950 104-49-38
e-mail: eva@mts.ru |
Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statement to conform them to actual results. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically, the Company’s most recent Form F-1. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned “Risk Factors,” that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures; rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, risks associated with operating in Russia, volatility of stock price, financial risk management, and future growth subject to risks.
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT) is Russia’s leading GSM 900/1800 mobile cellular operator. MTS has GSM 900/1800 licenses to provide mobile cellular telephony services in 34 regions of the Russian Federation, covering 45% of the country’s population. It has commenced operations in 21 regions covering more than 41 million people.
Information about MTS’s activities and services can be found on MTS website at https://www.mtsgsm.com. The Yaroslavl Region is located north-west of Moscow, the distance between Moscow and Yaroslavl is 282 km. The region’s territory is 36,400 square km with the population of 1413,900 people. The Yaroslavl’s population is 616,700 people. The Yaroslavl Region borders on the Vladimir, Kostroma, Vologodskaya, Moscow, Ivanovo and Tver regions. The largest towns of the Region are: Rybinsk, Tutaev, Pereyaslavl-Zalesky, Uglich, Rostov. |
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