As of today MTS subscription is open to all individuals. The corporate subscription has been launched on December 5, 2001. MTS’ own subsidiary “Telekom XXI” provides GSM 900/1800 cellular services in the North-West of Russia under the trade mark of “Mobile TeleSystems” (MTS). MTS announced the acquisition of Telekom XXI OSJC on May 22, 2001. MTS has launched the integrated GSM 900/1800 network in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region within six months of acquiring Telekom XXI. The network includes the switch center, the initial capacity of which makes it possible to handle up to 100,000 subscribers and 130 base stations, built by Ericsson. The inhabitants of St. Petersburg who subscribe to the MTS network can now enjoy mobile services effectively within the whole territory of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. Additionally, from the very beginning MTS ensures the full coverage along the total length of the Moscow — St. Petersburg highway. Thus, MTS provides continuous cellular connection along the road, connecting the most important cities of the country. On December 11, 2001 MTS also carried out technical launch of networks in the Murmansk, Novgorod, and Vologda regions. Commenting on this latest development Mikhail Smirnov, President of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC, said: “MTS’ launch in St. Petersburg symbolizes the merging of two capitals into one unified network. In terms of its significance for MTS, this event is as important for us as the launch of MTS network in Moscow and listing on the New York Exchange. MTS is the only mobile company which, armed with eight years of experience in building GSM networks, has succeeded in developing such a large network within such a limited timeframe. St. Petersburg is definitely on our priority list. We are determined to continue further network expansion in the North-West of Russia by improving the quality of communications and by enhancing our coverage zone.” The radio subsystem in the North-West part of MTS’ unified network will be substantially enhanced by the end the year 2001. The launch of new base stations in the Leningrad region will ensure the coverage along the St. Petersburg — Moscow railroad, as well as along the highways to Vyborg and Pskov. MTS will launch test operations in the Arkhangelsk region and the Republic of Karelia during December 2001. MTS is set to keep up its pace in developing the network in the North-West of Russia throughout 2002. MTS also plans to cover all the regional districts, highways and vacation spots in the Leningrad region by 2003. Integrated networks with their own switch centers will also be launched and as the result, the coverage will be enhanced substantially in other regions of the North-West of Russia. MTS aims to make the life of its subscribers as easy as possible. MTS subscribers in St. Petersburg can now choose any kind of service they want: they can either visit personally MTS’ “all in one” service centers or resolve any questions they have through call center operators. They can also handle issues themselves through MTS’ interactive services such as Automatic Customer Care Service (ACCS) via the phone and Customer Care Internet Service (CCIS) via the Internet. On December 11, 2001 MTS opens four complex service centers in St Petersburg. Starting December 15th one more complex center is to be opened. MTS subscribers can order the whole range of the network’s services in all of these centers, with the assistance of highly qualified managers, who have been fully trained by MTS in Moscow. The call center comes into operation as of December 11, 2001 and from December 17, 2001 it will operate round-the-clock. Mikhail Smirnov also noted: “We are striving to meet the high standards of Russia’s capital of the North by developing service programs for St. Petersburg subscribers. As of today we have invested a lot of effort and money in providing our subscribers with the most convenient terms for using MTS mobile communications. However, we do not intend to rest on our laurels and are currently considering further improvements to the quality of service, which remains one of MTS’ main goals”. From now on the inhabitants of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region can subscribe to the network in over 200 dealer sales outlets. MTS has already announced that subscription in December is free. MTS’ launch in St. Petersburg makes it possible to subscribe users with both federal numbers (11-digit, pre-fix 911) and with direct (7-digit) St. Petersburg numbers. MTS offers to its subscribers six tariff plans, which structure follows closely that of the existing tariffs in Moscow: “Avant Guarde”, Efficient” and “Ten” with federal numbers and “Elite”, “President” and “Exclusive” with direct city numbers. Each tariff is tailored for the specific segments of the market and is in direct correlation to the life style and the budget of future users. Such tariff policy allows subscribers to select an optimal tariff plan, being able not only to communicate freely but also to save on calls. Irrespective of the tariff plan, all MTS subscribers in St.Petersburg can enjoy free of charge the following services: international access, national and international roaming (which means that they can use their phone in over 600 Russia’s cities and 94 countries worldwide), call forwarding, call waiting, sending and receiving SMS messages. By subscribing to the pan-Russian MTS network, users in St. Petersburg can enjoy all the advantages of the MTS unified tariff policy such as “mobile long distance service” or charging the calls made to other MTS subscribers under local tariffs or even under the tariffs of “mobile-to-mobile” calls. Thus, long distance calls made under the above policy are becoming in some cases even lower compared to tariffs of fixed line operators. For instance, the cost of outgoing mobile-to-mobile call from St. Petersburg to Moscow or Tver equals the cost of the mobile-to-mobile call within St Petersburg. Taking into account that MTS subscription base is now over 2.5 million users in 28 Russia’s regions, the cost of the long distance component of the call is becoming cheaper. Additionally, starting December 4, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region are included into the MTS reduced intranet roaming zone, which now already covers 30 regions in Russia. This means that if an MTS subscriber is visiting any “guest” region, he (she) will pay for the call to the regional center only 29¹ cents per minute during the day and 25¹ cents in the evening.