OREANDA-NEWS. Rostelecom OJSC (the “Group”) (MICEX - RTS: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY), Russia’s national telecommunications operator, today announces that it has commercially launched the first segment of its 3G+ mobile network in St Petersburg. Rostelecom’s new mobile network complements the services that the Company already offers in St Petersburg, which currently are fixed telephony, broadband and interactive TV.

In light of the growing demand for mobile data transfer services, Rostelecom’s 3G+ network was installed using the modern HSPA+ technology. This technology provides data transfer speeds of up to 21MB/s, compared to speeds of just 3.6MB/s provided by the first 3G networks. Rostelecom’s customers in St Petersburg now benefit from new mobile internet speeds, and have access to modern, interactive services via smartphones, tablets and USB-modems. The Company plans to upgrade its network to reach the maximum speed of up to 42MB/s in the future.


Rostelecom is steadily growing the number of base stations the Group has in St Petersburg over the coming years, which will eventually allow the Company to achieve a high level of penetration in the region. It is important to note that the construction of Rostelecom’s mobile network is based on its powerful, high-capacity fibre-optic network, which allows the Company to fully unlock the capabilities of HSPA+ technology.

Larisa Tkachuk, Senior Vice President and Commercial Director of Rostelecom, commented: “Launching a 3G+ network in St Petersburg, the birthplace of Russian mobile communications, is a significant event for Rostelecom. These are of course only the first steps, but we plan to dramatically improve coverage in the northern capital in the future. We look forward to receiving feedback from our first subscribers to help us to improve the network’s performance. We have placed a strong emphasis on data services when developing Rostelecom’s mobile business, since the majority of modern services are connected to the internet, including online shopping. Millions of St Petersburg residents actively use Rostelecom’s various household services, and we are now showcasing Rostelecom as a mobile phone operator.”

As of August 2013, Rostelecom has already built and tested 3G networks in 22 regions. The Company plans to establish more than 8,000 base stations across the country. Ericsson and Huawei are providing technical equipment and solutions for the project.

Rostelecom and its subsidiaries, NCC CJSC, BWC CJSC, ETK CJSC, Sky Link CJSC, Volgograd-GSM CJSC, AKOS CJSC and Wireless Information Technologies LLC, provide mobile services to 13.6 million subscribers.