MTS, an operator in Russia, plans to expand its WiMax network in the Moscow region. The project was reportedly started by operator Comstar in 2009.
MTS which bought Comstar last year, will now switch the project to its own brand. The network will be expanded to areas of the Moscow region, with the number of base stations raised by 20%.
Tele2 Russia has launched a tariff which offers discount for calls to Moscow from other regions.
Incoming calls from Moscow to 37 regions where Tele2 is present will cost US$0.05 per minute. Outgoing calls from Moscow will be charged at US$0.33 per minute due to roaming rates but subscribers will be able to have lower international roaming rates, with prices starting at US$0.64 per minute.
A report has revealed that in Russia the mobile subscriber base totaled 220.55 million at the end of February. The base size grew by 0.3% i.e 600,000 customers, month-on-month.
Market penetration totaled 151.9%. In Moscow, the number of mobile subscribers rose 0.7% to 34.7 million, while the number reached 12.98 million in St Petersburg growing by 0.4%.
Russian WiMAX operator, Enforta has announced that it has secured an US$14.6 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The funds will be used to expand the company’s WiMAX network to a total of 130 cities. The first stage of the rollout will see around 25 cities connected to Enforta’s WiMAX network during 2011 and 2012. Strategic investor EBRD, which holds a 6.4% stake in Enforta, supplied the telco with an initial loan of US$15 million in January 2009 to fund the previous stage of its launch.
According to Enforta, its operations are focused in Russia’s regional capitals, with WiMAX service offered in 78 cities, including numerous smaller cities in Moscow region.
According to Oleg Taynov, Chief Commercial Officer of Enforta’s Prestige Internet brand, this new phase in Enforta’s development will involve widening the network, deploying new telecoms equipment and enhancing business processes within the group. The acquisition of regional fibre-optic transmission lines and WiMAX assets is also possible.
Mobile service operator life:) announces that Alexander Barinov is appointed CEO, effective as of December 1st 2010.
Mr. Barinov has extensive experience in the telecommunications and technology industry in Ukraine and internationally, as well as vast experience in marketing and sales for hi-tech, dynamically growing companies.
Prior to life 
, Mr. Barinov was Vice President of the Supervisory Board at StarLightMedia.
Between June 2008 and April 2010 Mr. Barinov worked for Vimpelcom Group where he held the positions of Vice President for Sales of Vimpelcom (Beeline) Russia and General Director of Ukrainian Radio Systems (Beeline) Ukraine.
Previously, Mr. Barinov was Vice President of Product, Marketing and Strategic Development of IBS Group (Russia), the General Manager of the Holding Company of Aegis Media/OKS (Russia), and the General Director of DEPO Computers (Russia). He also held several positions in marketing and new business development between 1993 and 2003.
Mr Barinov graduated from MOSCOW State Academy of Chemical Engineering where he completed his PhD and he also holds a degree from Dortmund University (Germany). He is married with three children.
Commenting on his new appointment, Alexander Barinov said: I am honored to lead one of the industry’s brightest teams which has successfully built a strong national GSM player and has shaped the development of the telecom industry in Ukraine. I am greatly inspired by my new assignment. I will do all I can to achieve outstanding results, bringing a fresh, alternative vision of life ’s business through the experience and vision I have gained from my previous positionsâ€.
Russian mobile network operator, MegaFon, has announced its Q3 results. As per the results its revenue increased by 21.3% reaching US$1.84 billion, while net income grew by 23.1% year-on-year, to US$447 million. However, OIBDA margin in the quarter dropped to 46.1% as compared to 49.7% in the third quarter of 2009.
The company also reported that it had 56.4 million net subscribers as of September 30, 2010, a 16.3% increase year-on-year.
According to Sergey Soldatenkov, Chief Executive Officer of MegaFon, the company has achieved excellent results in the third quarter. The Company keeps growing on a sustainable basis. In addition to growth in their traditional voice services, the growth was also driven by data services which increased by 14%. This is why they are focusing on projects related to the further development of 3G networks and data centers in the coming three years. The company will continue the integration of their mobile and fixed-line businesses so as to move MegaFon towards its objective of becoming a universal operator with rapid growth in all telecom market segments to the benefit of our clients.
During the quarter, the number of 3G base stations installed in the Stolichny Branch (Moscow and the Moscow Region) reached one thousand. By the end of 2010, the total number of 3G sites will grow to 2,500. MegaFon and Rostelecom also tested LTE networks at one of the main Olympic sites – the downhill ski resort Roza Khutor located in Krasnaya Polyana.
If reports are to be believed, Russian telecommunication company MTS is planning to invest approximately $97.4 million to upgrade its network in Moscow.
As per the report citing spokesperson at MTS, Irina Osadchaya, , the company plans to install equipment that supports 4G long-term evolution (LTE) technology and high-speed packet access (HSPA) technology. Presently, the company is also connecting its base stations to the fiber optic network of its affiliated fixed-line operators Comstar United TeleSystems and the Moscow City Telephone Company.
The report further stated that the company expects to be ready to roll out LTE services in Moscow in the first quarter of 2011.
According to RIA Novosti news agency, Moscow’s court of appeal has confirmed that the merger between Russian mobile phone operator MegaFon and Turkish operator Turkcell is invalid.
Russian group Altimo and Nordic operator TeliaSonera agreed to merge their interests in Turkcell, Turkey’s biggest mobile phone operator, and MegaFon, Russia’s third-largest mobile phone operator, last November.
The merger had been brokered between TeliaSonera and Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group last year as part of a plan to resolve an ownership dispute over Turkcell.
According to TeliaSonera and Altimo, they would appeal the court’s decision one more time.
According to Cecilia Edstrom, head of TeliaSonera group communications, the company is disappointed by the decision, they believe the decision is wrong thus the company expects to appeal.
According to Telecom and IT Minister A Raja, India and Russia could set up a joint venture for producing telecom hardware to meet the growing domestic demand even as government readies to roll out 3G and WiMax broadband in the country.
Raja told reporters that Russia is among the four countries, including the US, Taiwan and Korea, which have the capacity of making silicon chips for 3G and WiMax. The idea of an Indo-Russian JV in India came up after Raja visited the Micron Company, which produces silicon chips.
According to Raja, it is an integrated company with full cycle of production from silicon wafers to micro chips. India will welcome technical and financial contribution from Russia in the JV.
Russia is among the first few countries to implement commercial cellular networks of WiMax. At present they function in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sochi and some other cities.
Raja is the first Indian Telecom and IT Minister to visit Russia after the former IT Minister Pramod Mahajan’s Moscow visit in September 2001. The government then had promised to invest heavily in the Russian IT sector, famous for its Hi-End software.
Raja also visited the hi-tech Emergency Response Centre of the disaster management authority of the country in Moscow, which continuously receives online data from all over the country and automatically disseminates it among the concerned bodies.
Raja had discussed with his Russian counterpart Igor Shchegolev in Moscow to explore the possibilities for interaction in IT and telecom.
According to Raja, they believe that joint work will bring information and communication technology to the masses. The two sides have agreed to sign a MoU to this effect.
The Russian IT and Mass Media Minister Shchegolev told Raja that they believe, this technology is ready for export.
The two ministers expressed satisfaction at the ongoing bilateral cooperation in the space-based navigation system GLONASS and productive activities of Russian-Indian venture Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL), marketing cellular services in India under MTS brand.
