Russia mobile phone market grows by 4.4% in April

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Russia grew by 4.4% in April to reach 22.23 million, according to J'son & Partners and Sotovik. This represents market penetration of 15.3%. The country's big three mobile operators are MTS (36% of total subscribers), VimpelCom (29%) and MegaFon (17%). Of these, MTS added the largest number of subscribers in April.

One of Russia's fastest growing regions for mobile communications is the North Caucasus. Penetration in the region has more than trebled over the last three years from 3.8% in 2001 to over 12% at the end of April 2003. Competition and subscriber growth in the North Caucasus have increased recently as major operators seek to enter key cities and areas in the region. All of Russia's big three operators are now present in the local market.

The data in this report was supplied by J'son & Partners and Sotovik, who conduct independent research of the mobile communications market in Russia.

© &to=http://www.rosbaltnews.com/' target=_blank>RosBalt

&to=http://www.mts.com' target=_blank>MTS

&to=http://www.sotovik.ru/english/' target=_blank>Sotovik

&to=http://www.json.ru/' target=_blank>J'son & Partners

&to=http://www.vimpelcom.ru/en/NYSE.html' target=_blank>VimpelCom