Moscow, Russian Federation — 15 November, 2001 — Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (NYSE: MBT), Russia’s largest GSM 900/1800 mobile operator, today announced the reduction in the cost of calls and subscription fees charged under current corporate tariff plans and the launch of a new unique tariff “Corporate Active”.
All new initiatives will come into force as of November 20, 2001.
MTS has taken yet another step towards reducing corporate tariffs. The latest move is in line with the company’s policy of providing its customers with high-quality mobile communications at affordable prices. The subscription charge under the tariffs with direct Moscow numbers has been reduced by 10%. As of today, the subscription charge is US$111 for companies that have from up to 15 MTS registered mobile phones, and US$101 if the number of phones is from 16 up to 30. If a company has registered over 31 phones, the subscription charge is only US$91.
The new marketing initiatives are once again focusing on reducing mobile usage costs for corporate clients. Under tariffs with direct Moscow numbers the cost of the outgoing call to an MTS subscriber has been reduced by 20% to 121 cents per minute during the day (from 8am to 9pm) in the “Stolitsa” and “Oblast” tariff zones.
The cost of calls to fixed line phones has also been reduced. Thus, under the tariff plans with direct Moscow numbers the per minute cost of calls made during the day is now 231 cents and 171 cents under the tariff plans with federal numbers.
From November 20, 2001 MTS introduces reduced tariffs for night calls made between 9pm and 8am for its corporate subscribers. Under the tariffs with direct Moscow numbers the per minute cost of calls made in the “Stolitsa” tariff zone during the night has been reduced by 24% to 191 cents. In the “Oblast” tariff zone the cost for the same call has been reduced by 20% to 161 cent for a corporate client. Under the tariffs with federal numbers the per minute cost of calls made during the reduced night time period has been cut by 15% to 151 cents in the “Stolitsa” tariff zone and to 13* cents in the “Oblast” tariff zone.
New corporate tariffs have made provisions for corporate clients, who make significant number of long-distance and international calls.
MTS is also introducing a new unique tariff “Corporate Active” for corporate users with federal phone numbers. The obligatory minimum fee of US$501 a month includes 500 minutes of any local connections. The cost of all local calls over and above 501st minute is 91 cents per minute round-the-clock. All incoming calls from MTS phones are free under this tariff, so the traffic included in the obligatory fee can be substantially increased due to incoming calls from MTS phones.
Since November 1, 2001 “Mobile TeleSystems” has been offering corporate tariff plans to companies and institutions with four and more MTS registered phones for an overall cumulative monthly charge starting from US$1,500. Under this tariff plan average traffic per phone must not fall under US$50. All companies, that have received the MTS corporate status, can now use afore mentioned corporate advantages, which cater for individual needs of each cellular corporate client. Additionally, MTS’ corporate programs feature special reduced tariff plans.
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The above prices in this press release are exclusive VAT and sales tax. |
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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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