OREANDA-NEWS. On November 18, 2008 Sistema (LSE: SSA), the largest public diversified corporation in Russia and the CIS, which manages fast growing companies operating in the consumer services sector, announced that Shyam Telelink Ltd. (“Shyam Telelink”), a subsidiary of Sistema, has connected the one hundred thousandth subscriber to its CDMA 800 MHz mobile network in the state of Rajasthan since its launch on September 30, 2008, reported the press-centre of Sistema.

The growth of Shyam Telelink’s subscriber base has exceeded its business plan by 1.5 times.

Shyam Telelink is constructing its mobile network in five additional telecommunications circles, including Tamil Nadu and Kerala with a total population of more than 100 million people. Shyam Telelink expects to launch its mobile services in at least two further Indian circles in the first quarter of 2009. Sistema, the majority shareholder, continues to provide full support to Shyam Telelink in the rollout of its mobile services to more than 35 million subscribers by 2012, which represent approximately 7% of the Indian market.
 
Vsevolod Rozanov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shyam Telelink, commented: “We have reached the first significant milestone in the construction of our CDMA network in India. We increased STL total subscriber base by more than a third in less than seven weeks, as we continue to ramp up Shyam Telelink’s subscriber base in the Indian market according to our business plan for the near future.”