St Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Russia — 30 July 2002 — OSJC Mobile TeleSystems (NYSE: MBT), Russia’s largest mobile operator servicing over 4.6 million subscribers, is pleased to announce the launch of its operations in the Arkhangelsk region of Russia, continuing the Company's regional expansion strategy. This brings to 41 the number of Russia’s regions, where MTS services are available.
is another major step in MTS’ expansion in Russia’s North-West. MTS’ network is already operational in St Petersburg, as well as Leningrad, Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, and Pskov regions, as well as the Karelia Republic and Komi Republic. Arkhangelsk becomes MTS’ ninth network in Russia’s North-West.
Mikhail Susov, Mobile TeleSystems First Vice President, commenting on MTS’ launch in the Arkhangelsk region, said: “We started operations in the city of St Petersburg in record time after we acquired a licence for the North West region and we continue to expand at an accelerating pace. In addition to our network in the city of St Petersburg and the Leningrad region we have started operations in six regions of the North-West. The range and accessibility of our services have resulted in a strong growth in our subscriber base in the region where we currently provide services to almost half a million people”.
MTS’ network in the Arkhangelsk region is based on GSM 900/1800 infrastructure provided by Ericsson and offers quality coverage of the city of Arkhangelsk. To-date MTS has installed a switch with a capacity for 30,000 numbers and 14 radio base stations. By the end of August, MTS will extend the coverage to the districts of Solombala and Severnaya Maimaksa. In 2003, MTS’ network coverage will be extended to most of the populated areas of the region — the towns of Severodvinsk, Novodvinsk, Kotlas and villages on the banks of the Dvina River, Plesetsk and Mirny.
MTS has opened a special web page at www.arkhangelsk.mts.ru featuring full information on the company’s activities in the region.
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For further information contact:
OSJC “MTS”
PR Director
Kirill Maslentsin
Phone: +7 (095) 737-45-30
E-mail: mkk@mts.ru
Investor Relation Director
Andrey Braginski
Phone: +7 (095) 766-01-03
E-mail: ir@mts.ru
Press Secretary
Eva Prokofyeva
Phone: +7 (095) 104-49-38
E-mail: eva@mts.ru |
OSJC Mobile TeleSystems — is Russia’s largest cellular operator serving over 4.6 million subscribers. MTS in combination with its subsidiaries is licensed to provide GSM 900/1800 services in 50 regions of Russia with a total population of 96.2 million people or 66% of the nation’s population. Today, MTS’ network operates in 41 regions of Central (including Moscow and Moscow region), Northwestern (including St Petersburg and Leningrad region), Southern, Mid-Volga, Ural, Siberia and Far-Eastern federal districts and the Republic of Belarus. Since June 2000, MTS’ shares have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol MBT. More information on MTS is available at: www.spb.mts.ru and www.mts.ru. Additional information on the MTS Arkhangelsk appears at: www.arkhangelsk.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, including the Company’s Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned “Risk Factors” in our Form 20-F. These factors 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 other risk factors. |
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