OREANDA-NEWS. March 28, 2012. Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS” – NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, and Samsung Electronics announce the signing of an agreement to cooperate on retail projects, equipment sales and telecommunication services in Russia.

Under the terms of the agreement, MTS and Samsung plan to open Samsung monobrand shops in ten of the largest cities in Russia and install Samsung “shop-in-shop” zones and promotional stands in 2,000 MTS retail stores across Russia.

The companies have also agreed to join forces in promoting sales of data traffic-generating devices. Samsung smartphones will be sold together with MTS data plans, notebooks will be paired with MTS USB-modems, and tablets will come bundled with MTS Wi-Fi routers. Samsung monobrand stores will exclusively sell MTS SIM-cards.

Andrey Klenin, CEO of MTS's retail network, commented, “By partnering with MTS, which operates the largest retail network among Russian operators, Samsung will boost its regional presence where it already is a favorite consumer brand. The agreement enables us to launch unique sales and customer service offerings. Furthermore, MTS will benefit by attracting quality subscribers through Samsung-branded presence, as well as from rising sales of data traffic-generating devices.”

Alexey Dorofeev, Mobile Business Team Leader at Samsung Electronics, said, ”This marks the first time we have partnered with an operator’s retail network. With this agreement we will be able to make a wide array of Samsung devices available to the thousands of MTS retail store shoppers across Russia.”

Samsung in the MTS retail chain

An extensive range of Samsung products, including Samsung GALAXY and Samsung Wave smartphones and Samsung GALAXY Tab tablets, is currently available in MTS retail stores. In 2011, Samsung expanded its share in the sales mix in the MTS's retail network. Share of Samsung products in the handsets category increased by 4% throughout the year. In the smartphone category, share increased by 17%, in tablet category sales rose by 14%, while Samsung’s share in the sales of notebooks increased by 18% over the same period.