VimpelCom's subscriber base grows

VimpelCom's capital investments in the first quarter of 2003 amounted to $175m, including $136.9m used for purchasing equipment and $38.1m allocated for other purchases, the company's press service reported.

The number of subscribers of VimpelCom increased by 132.5 percent, compared to the corresponding period of 2002, and amounted to 6.19m subscribers on March 31, 2003; some 3.95m of them in Moscow and the Moscow region and 2.24m in other regions. At present the total number of subscribers is 6.92m people.

Average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) was about $13.5 in the first quarter of 2003, a 30.4 percent drop against $19.4 in the first quarter of 2002.

The share of VimpelCom on the mobile communications market of Moscow and the Moscow region retreated by 2 percent to 49.5 percent in the first quarter of 2003. In Russia the company's share grew by 3 percent to 29 percent.

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