MTS to commence activities in Belarus
Moscow, Russian Federation — 20 November, 2001 — Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT), Russia’s largest GSM 900/1800 mobile operator, today announced the commencement of its activities outside the Russian Federation.
MTS has actively commenced the development of its project in Belarus. A joint venture, in which MTS has a 49% share, is currently being registered for the provision of GSM 900/1800 cellular services across Belarus. As of today MTS has made a payment of 10 million USD into the Belarus’ budget in accordance with the terms of the tender that MTS won in Belarus.
Commenting on MTS’ start of activities in Belarus, Mikhail Smirnov, President of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC, said: “This step is extremely significant for the company, as it is the first time that MTS has entered a market outside the Russian Federation. Entering the Belarus market is very exciting and challenging, and I am confident that we have the ability to be as successful in Belarus as we have been in Russia to date.
‘We see great prospects for the development of MTS’ business in Belarus. Almost 40% of the antenna masts installed in the MTS’ existing network have been produced in Belarus, and we therefore have experience in dealing with companies from Belarus. MTS’ experience in cooperating with Belarussian companies to date has demonstrated the effectiveness and high quality of their specialists’ abilities.
We are happy to be developing together with the Belarussian market as a whole, as it moves closer to free market economy and market liberalization.’
MTS plans to launch a dual band GSM 900/1800 cellular network in Belarus, which will make it possible to provide the necessary coverage zone and the number capacity together with the possibility of providing value-added services, such as SMS, VMS, IN-platform, WAP and GPRS. A switch capable of handling up to 100, 000 subscribers will be placed in operations in Minsk, the Belarus’ capital, while rolling out the MTS network.
MTS plans to offer services to a coverage zone which will include Minsk and its suburbs, Novopolotsk, Slutsk, Soligorsk, the territory along the Smolensk-Minsk-Brest highway, as well as along the international transport passages: the Russian Federation’s borders — Vitebsk — Gomel — Ukranian borders and Gomel — Minsk — the Lithhuanian borders. Furthermore the motor ways Minsk-Gomel, Minsk-Grodno, Pershai-Oshmyany and the highway Bryansk-Gomel-Brest are also due to be covered.
The MTS network in Belarus is a logical expansion of the MTS network, which currently operates in all of the Russian regions bordering Belarus. The major highway from Moscow-Minsk is currently covered by MTS up to the Belarus border. The advantageous geographical position of Belarus along the main highways linking Russia and Eastern Europe will ensure dense transit traffic for the network’s operator.
In the future, all Belarus regional centers will be included in the MTS coverage zone.
The new joint venture will provide services of cellular communications in Belarus under the trademark ‘Mobile TeleSystems’ (‘MTS’).
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For further information contact:
Press Secretary
Eva Prokofieva
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.
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 26 regions, which cover more than 55,6 million people or 38% 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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