OREANDA-NEWS. Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (“MTS” or “the Company” – NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, announces results relating to network development in its core Russian market. In H1 2015, MTS installed over 9,160 base stations across Russia compared to 5,730 base stations installed in H1 2014.83857MTS continues to focus on enhancing data access for its customers throughout Russia. Roughly 53% of the total number of the base stations installed in H1 2015, or 4,830 base stations, support LTE standard, while 2,490 base stations, or 27% support, UMTS, or 3G, standards (e.g. DC-HSDPA+ standard).

Mr. Andrei Ushatskiy, MTS Vice President, Technology and IT, commented, “Beginning in late 2014, we accelerated the pace of construction and continued our aggressive build-out during H1 2015. Faster network development not only allows us to fulfil licensing requirements and make mobile broadband available to millions of our customers ahead of schedule, but also hedge risks related to ruble volatility.

Mr Ushatskiy continued, “In H1 2015, we focused on the deployment of tech-neutral networks by launching over 50% of the base stations in the 1800 MHz range. This approach resulted in quicker network deployment and better coverage as well as higher mobile data transfer speeds through the use of the LTE-Advanced technology.”

In March 2015, MTS disclosed estimated CAPEX spending in 2015 to be RUB 85 bln. “The accelerated build-out will not impact our CAPEX guidance for 2015,” added Mr. Ushatsky. “We are simply moving spending from the second-half of the year to the first-half of the year.”

MTS delivers peak speeds up to 75Mb/s on LTE networks launched in a single spectrum range. By aggregating spectrum in the 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz ranges, MTS increases peak speeds up 150 Mb/s and up to 187 Mb/s in some network segments. Over 81% of MTS’s 3G base stations support speeds up to 42 Mb/s, while the remaining 21% deliver speeds up to 21 Mb/s.

During H1 2015, the volume of mobile data traffic on the MTS’s mobile networks increased by 45% year-over-year. The highest growth in usage was registered in the Moscow region, the Southern region and the Volga region where usage grew by 75%, 59% and 47% respectively. Overall, in 2014, mobile data traffic on the MTS’s network in Russia grew 1.7 times.

MTS’s network development projects completed in H1 2015:

  • MTS has completed large-scale projects aimed at enhancing spectrum availability and increasing coverage of LTE-1800 in Moscow and the Moscow region which has resulted in a two-fold increase in speeds on LTE-1800 up to 75 Mb/s within Moscow and in increasing speeds up to 112 Mb/s in some of the areas of “New Moscow”. In areas where LTE-Advanced with aggregation of two carriers is employed, the speeds have increased up to 187 Mb/s.
  • MTS has signed agreements with key vendors for the delivery of the multi-band LTE equipment. Throughout 2015, MTS plans to launch tech-neutral LTE networks in 19 Russia’s regions and build LTE-Advanced networks with the aggregation of two and three carriers in 15 Russia’s regions.
  • MTS has commercially launched LTE-1800 network in over 100 population centers in the Krasnodar Region.
  • MTS has commercially launched LTE-1800 networks complimenting existing LTE networks spanning other ranges in Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad Region, in Chelyabinsk Region, Yaroslavl Region and Yakutia.
  • МТS has deployed LTE-Advanced with aggregation of spectrum in 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz ranges in Perm Krai, Rostov and Sverdlov Region.
  • MTS has launched in Moscow and the Moscow Region LTE networks in the 800 MHz range, which has resulted in better network quality and greater coverage in the population centers and along major roads.
  • MTS was the first operator in Russia to start deploying Small Cells in the LTE-Advanced standard with the aggregation of spectrum in 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz ranges providing for peak speeds of 150 Mb/s in Azov, Rostov Region.
  • МТS was the first operator in Russia to construct LTE-2600 network using active antenna systems in Altai Krai and Azov, Rostov Region, to improve indoor data transfer speeds.
  • MTS has installed in Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk cashing servers supplied by Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the world leader in cloud services for delivery of content an applications, which has provided MTS’s customers in the Urals and Siberia region with faster access to websites and network resources located outside Russia.
  • MTS and VimpelCom have installed roughly 3,000 LTE base stations in 36 Russia’s regions within the framework of the network sharing agreement signed in December 20141 .
  • Overall, MTS’s LTE networks have been launched in 78 of Russia’s regions.