OREANDA-NEWS. Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS” - NYSE: MBT), the leading telecom operator in Russia and CIS, and Nokia Siemens Networks (“NSN”), one of the world's largest suppliers of telecommunications equipment, announce the an agreement to jointly develop telecommunications infrastructure and build 4G networks in the Moscow region and Russia's Central Federal District.

Under the three-year agreement, NSN will supply equipment for build-out of mobile broadband networks in the LTE FDD standard. NSN will build LTE radio access networks and deploy IP core network equipment. To support MTS in network deployment, NSN will provide a full range of services, including network implementation, planning, optimization, systems integration and exploitation.

Andrei Ushatskiy, MTS Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, commented, “MTS continues to enhance our infrastructure in the Moscow region and Russia's Central Federal District using equipment from NSN. Under the terms of the contract, NSN will not only supply the equipment, but will also be responsible for its integration in the architecture of our network. We are focused on investing in 'next generation' networks to meet the rising needs of our customers for quality high-speed access to the Internet.”

Kristina Tikhonova, Head of region East at Nokia Siemens Networks, “I am confident that networks built by NSN and MTS will be able to satisfy the growing demand of Russian consumers for mobile broadband access on smartphones, tablets, WiFi routers and dongles. Building on the existing technological base and the long history of our cooperation with MTS in Moscow, the Moscow region and other central regions of Russia, we will be able to quickly deploy LTE networks and ensure seamless customer experience.”

By the end of 2012, MTS completed the large-scale modernization of the networks in Moscow and the Moscow region, having installed more than 5,000 base stations using Single-RAN technology that supports 2G/3G/4G standards. In September 2012, MTS launched an LTE TDD network in Moscow that now encompasses more than 2,000 base stations. In May 2013, MTS launched the first portion of its LTE FDD network in Moscow. In two years, MTS plans to cover 80% of the Moscow territory and over 40 large cities in the Moscow region with LTE FDD networks.

MTS continues its aggressive build-out of the LTE networks in Russia's regions. The Company plans to cover approximately 600 population centers in Russia with LTE by the end of 2013.