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03
Apr

Steady Growth Continues

Russian cellular market grew by more than 1.1 mln users in March, 2003. Russian mobile companies had 21,115,000 subscribers as of the end of March 2003, which translates into 14.5% penetration of mobile services in the country.

Top 10 Cellular Operators

Company March 31, 2003 February 28, 2003
Total Moscow Total Moscow
MTS* 9,510,000 3,545,000 7,320,000 3,385,000
Vimpelcom 6,170,000 3,940,000 5,847,000 3,846,000
Megafon** 3,635,940 387,706 3,445,000 382,278
SMARTS Group 660,000   619,940  
Uralsvyazinform 551,400   516,600  
Taif-Telcom*** 332,246   313,648  
N.Novgorod Cellular 201,630   191,000  
Tomsk Cellular Communications 123,630   114,311  
Tatincom 122,864   120,584  
Ekaterinburg Cellular 114,700   104,300  

*including UMC of Ukraine (1.82 mln) and Belarus subscribers (65,000)
** including 5,538 in TT-Mobile (Tajikistan)
*** 240,000 active subscribers; Taif-Telcom will be consolidated into MTS starting from end-April 2003 following the recent acquisition.

Russian Cellular Market Breakdown, March 2003

The chart above includes only Russian subscribers, all CIS networks were excluded from calculations.

Moscow Market

The month was successfull for MTS in Moscow while Megafon delivered disappointing results. Vimpelcom also loses its positions in the capital. If the trend persists, MTS may catch up with Vimpelcom in 2-3 months on the Moscow market.

Megafon's weak performance in March may be explained by the lack of direct Moscow numbering capacity that the company rents from other operators. The shortage was terminated in the end in the month. In addition, Megafon launched a new marketing campaign in order to stimulate sales.

Moscow Net Additions in March 2003