MTS network now operates in 29 regions of Russia Moscow, Russian Federation — 18 December 2001 — Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT), Russia’s largest GSM 900/1800 mobile operator, today announced the launch of its operations in Ivanovo.
The MTS network now operates in 29 of Russia’s regions. The services will be provided by MTS’ — 100% owned subsidiary Rosiko CSJC that holds a GSM license with 1800 MHz allocation for the Ivanovo Region. In Ivanovo MTS installed an integrated GSM 1800 network on the base of equipment produced by Lucent Technologies to execute its operations. The network includes a switch center with an initial capacity of up to 30,000 subscribers and 8 base stations. This ensures full coverage of the city of Ivanovo, a number of district centers, as well as the Ivanovo — Moscow and Ivanovo — Kineshma highways. Commenting on the event, Mikhail Smirnov, President of Mobile TeleSystems OSJC, said: “Having launched our network in Ivanovo, we have fully covered the central European part of Russia. The Ivanovo region is surrounded by other regions in which MTS already operates, so now the MTS network has become really unified in terms of continuous coverage. The advantageous geographical position of the Ivanovo regions along the highways linking western and eastern regions of Russia will ensure dense transit traffic for our operations”. The radio subsystem in the Ivanovo network will be substantially enhanced during the next few months. The launch of new base stations in the region will ensure the improvement of the quality of communications in the city, the coverage in other important district centers, as well as along the highways to Nizhni Novgorod and Yaroslavl, along the Ivanovo — Moscow railroad. Beside the cellular network MTS has built in the Ivanovo region substantial infrastructure to ensure for its subscribers the most convenient terms for using MTS mobile communications. MTS subscribers in Ivanovo can choose a kind of service that suits their habits best: they can either visit personally MTS’ “all in one” service center or resolve any questions they have through call center operators. They can also handle issues themselves through MTS’ interactive service — Automatic Customer Care Service (ACCS) via their handset. On December 18, 2001 MTS opens its first complex service center in Ivanovo. The subscription in December is free. MTS will be able to offer subscribers in Ivanovo tariff plans with both federal (11-digit, pre-fix 902) and with direct (6-digit) Ivanovo numbers. MTS offers to its subscribers four tariff plans, which structure follows closely that of the existing tariffs in Moscow: “Avant Guarde”, “Active” and “Ten” with federal numbers and “President” with direct city numbers. The tariffs themselves are lower than those in Moscow, which correlates with a lower income level in the Ivanovo region. Each tariff is tailored for the specific needs of users and is in direct correlation to their life style and budget. Additionally, the Ivanono region is now included into the MTS reduced intranet roaming zone.
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For further information contact:
Eva Prokofyeva
Press Secretary
tel: +7 (095) 104-49-38
e-mail: eva@mts.ru
Investor Relations department
tel: +7 (095) 766-01-03
Fax: +7 (095) 766-01-00
e-mail: ir@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 statements 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, including our most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned “Risk Factors” in our Form 20-F, 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.
Note to editors The Ivanovo region The Ivanovo region is situated in the central part of European Russia, 300 km north-east of Moscow. The region is at the crossing of the main high ways that link the Moscow and western regions with the eastern and north-eastern regions of Russia. In terms of advantageous geographical location, the specialists put the Ivanovo region in the fourth place among (other 89) Russia’s 89 regions (the journal “Expert” ? 41, February/October, 2000). Beside motorways and railroads the region has river ports and an airport with an international status capable of receiving all modern plane types including the heaviest. The region’s territory is 21,400 square km with (the) a population of 1,220,000 people. The regional center is the city of Ivanovo with a population of 485,000 people. The industrial infrastructure of the region comprises 287 enterprises of different categories. The leading producer in the Ivanovo region is light industry that makes up almost 37% of the general volume production in the region. Over half the workforce of Russia’s light industry are employed in the Ivanovo plants. Each year 69 textile enterprises in the region produce over 800,000,000 meters of ready fabric that makes up nearly half of Russia’s textile production. The region sells its production to all of Russia’s regions, and exports both to CIS and non-CIS countries around the world.
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 46 regions of the Russian Federation, covering 86 million people or 56% of the country’s population. MTS network has operations in 29 regions, which cover more than 63,2 million people or 43,2% of the population of the Russian Federation.
Additional information about MTS can be found on MTS’s website at https://www.mtsgsm.com. |
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