Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation – Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS” or the “Company” – NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, announces the launch of a new phase of its LTE network development across Russia. MTS has signed new contracts with key vendors for the delivery of multi-band LTE equipment and will launch tech-neutral LTE-1800 networks in 19 Russian regions by the end of 2015, while LTE-Advanced networks featuring dual- and tri-band carrier aggregation technology will be launched in 15 regions by the end of 2015.

Mr. Andrei Ushatskiy, MTS Vice President, Technology and IT, commented, “The introduction of tech neutrality allows us to use frequency resources more efficiently to increase data transmission speeds. This allows us to roll-out LTE networks within a shorter timeframe and reduce overall LTE CAPEX. For instance, 1800+2600 MHz carrier aggregation, provided each of the bands has a bandwidth of at least 10 MHz, allows us to increase the peak data transmission speed from 75 Mb/s to 150 Mb/s. In the case of tri-band carrier aggregation, network speeds reach 225 Mb/s. In April 2015, MTS carried out carrier aggregation tests in Bashkiria on 1800+2600+800 MHz frequencies with a combined bandwidth of up to 35 MHz, which demonstrated peak speeds of up to 260 Mb/s”.

MTS has signed contracts for equipment with the world’s leading suppliers, including Nokia, Huawei, Ericsson and Samsung. Initial investment in the project will exceed RUB 10 billion.

The coverage area of a base station working in the 1800 MHz range is four times greater than the coverage areas of a base station in the 2500-2700 MHz range. Thus the use of 1800 MHz equipment for the development of data transmission networks allows for quicker and more efficient network deployment, as the same territory can be covered by fewer base stations. Likewise, the LTE-1800 signal reaches indoor areas better compared to the signal of base stations working in higher frequency ranges.

According to the Company’s strategy, dual-band networks – 1800+2600 MHz or 800+2600 MHz (depending on frequency availability in each particular region) will account for the majority of base stations in the Russian regions. Data transmission via several frequency bands will increase the throughput capacity of MTS networks, improve speeds and enhance data network reliability.

In the north-west region, which includes Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad region, all three possible combinations of dual-band carrier aggregation will be used. In addition, in 2015, MTS will launch deployment of tri-band 800+1800+2600 MHz carrier aggregation in this region.

As a part of this project, MTS also plans to modernize existing GSM networks in some regions. The modernization will involve replacing the current equipment with equipment based on a Single RAN (Single Radio Access Network) platform which allows for the provision of all standards of GSM, 3G and LTE coverage on a single base station.

Development of MTS LTE networks

Following the introduction of tech neutrality in 2014, MTS became the first operator to start using GSM-1800 infrastructure for the purposes of the LTE standard. In 2014 -2015, MTS began refarming the 1800 MHz frequency band in the Moscow, Bashkiria, Saint Petersburg, Leningrad and Krasnodar regions. Currently, MTS operates LTE-Advanced networks in Moscow and Bashkiria. Overall, MTS operates LTE networks in 77 regions across Russia.

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For further information, please contact in Moscow:
Joshua B. Tulgan
Director, Department of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC
Tel: +7 495 223 2025
E-mail: ir@mts.ru