OREANDA-NEWS. On 17 April 2009 JSC SITRONICS (LSE:SITR), a leading vendor in telecommunication, IT and microelectronic solutions in Russia and the CIS countries,  announced the start of supplying RUIM cards (SIM cards for CDMA networks) to MTS India. The amount of the contract for supplying the RUIM cards to Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd, who operates as a mobile telephony services provider in India, under the brand name “MTS” in India, is approximately around USD 3 million.

SITRONICS has already shipped the first batch of RUIM cards compatible with CDMA 800 MHz standards. The Cards have a 64 kb memory that enables the use of various service applications. Specifically, in accordance with the contract, SITRONICS’ specialists have developed exclusive ESN Tracking functionality that enables the provider to get subscriber’s IMEI number and RUIM card number as an SMS (text) message. This functionality will help in the tracking of stolen phones and will enable us to block the subscriber’s RUIM card if necessary. This is a mandatory requirement for all Indian operators that have been established by the government of India for increasing the mobile communication safety after recent acts of terrorism.

According to the Department of Telecommunications of the government of India, there were about 375 million cellular network subscribers as of February 2009, with a market penetration of around 33%. The subscriber base is growing by approximately 10 million subscribers per month.

Sistema Shyam TeleServices has a universal access service license to provide mobile telephony services throughout the entire geographical territory of India. This year the company will continue with its pan India network expansion. SSTL is eventually looking at a mobility subscriber base of 35 million customers by the year 2012, which is roughly about 7% of the projected Indian mobility market.

Gennady Krasnikov, head of SITRONICS Microelectronics business segment, said: “India is the second largest market in the world and one of the most competitive markets in the hi-tech area. Entering this market will give us an opportunity to expand our presence in this region and to promote our hi-tech solutions outside our traditional markets.