OREANDA-NEWS. November 25, 2013. Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL), which operates its telecom services under the MTS brand in India, today announces its unaudited consolidated financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Key Financial & Operational Highlights for the Third Quarter of 2013

Revenues in 9 operational circles remained flat Q-o-Q, due to seasonality. Consolidated revenues decreased by 2.2% Q-o-Q to INR 2,844 million (USD 45 million) due to reduced operating footprint.

Blended mobile ARPU for the quarter increased by 6.8%to INR 95 on account of increase in minutes of usage following improved quality of customer base.

Minutes of usage increased by 11% to 363during the quarter (Q-o-Q).

Success of SSTL's data strategy is evident with non-voice revenues contributing 34.5% of total quarterly revenues, the highest in the industry.

SSTL's HSD services now cover over 500 towns across 9 circles.

The Company's data card subscriber base for the quarter increased by 4.5% to 1.21 million subscribers.

Consolidated OIBDA loss for the quarter remained flat at INR 2,197 million (USD 35 million).

Post Period End Highlights

SSTL was the first telecom operator in India to get Unified Telecom License. The license will enable the Company to provide technology neutral telecom services for a period of 20 years.

SSTL rolled out its 3GPLUS Telecom Network (EV-DO Rev.B Phase II) across all its circles of operations launches MBlaze Ultra dongle with speeds of up to 9.8Mbps.

Company also plans to launch a slew of Smartphones, enabling customers to further utilize the power of 3GPLUS network.

According to Dmitry Shukov, Chief Executive Officer of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd "During the quarter we continued to focus on optimizing our business in line with our medium term target to turn OIBDA positive by end of 2014. On the regulatory front, though 100% FDI in telecom is a welcome move, we expect the government to provide a clear roadmap for the auction of 800 Mhz spectrum. This is a must for proliferation of data services amongst the masses and also for restoring investor confidence."