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New Year Sales Started
December 5, 2004
November 2004 brought record high net additions in Russia (3.8 mln). It seems this year operators decided to start Christmas campaign in advance. This could pay off as this Christmas promises to generate absolute maximum number of cellular additions in Russia ever.
Russian Mobile Subscribers
| Mobile Subscribers | November 30, 2004 | October 31, 2004 |
|---|---|---|
| Total Russia | 65,590,000 | 61,770,000 |
| Penetration | 45.2% | 42.5% |
| Moscow | 15,634,828 | 15,105,908 |
| Penetration | 92.1% | 88.9% |
| St.Petersburg | 5,313,694 | 5,170,722 |
| Penetration | 83.8% | 81.6% |
| Subscribers outside Moscow and St.Pete | 44,641,478 | 41,493,370 |
| Penetration | 36.6% | 34.1% |
MTS was number one in net sales in St.Petersburg, while Vimpelcom led (for 9 months in a row!!) in regional net additions as well as in total Russia adds!
Russian Cellular
|
Russian Net Additions,
|
Top 10 Mobile Operators
| # | Company | November 30, 2004 | October 31, 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MTS | 30,595,000 | 28,835,000 |
Moscow |
6,985,000 | 6,830,000 | |
Ukraine (UMC) |
6,266,000 | 5,894,000 | |
Belarus |
1,100,000 | 1,041,000 | |
Uzbekistan |
287,000 | 264,000 | |
| 2 | Vimpelcom | 23,160,000 | 21,580,000 |
Moscow |
6,960,000 | 6,645,000 | |
Kazakhstan |
745,000 | 702,000 | |
| 3 | MegaFon | 12,756,890 | 12,155,280 |
Moscow |
1,603,751 | 1,514,166 | |
Tajikistan |
38,817 | 34,700 | |
| 4 | Uralsvyazinform | 1,937,300 | 1,867,200 |
| 5 | SMARTS Group | 1,690,640 | 1,647,000 |
| 6 | Sibirtelecom | 861,600 | 782,700 |
| 7 | N.Novgorod Cellular | 596,945 | 554,388 |
| 8 | Ekaterinburg Cellular Communications | 354,572 | 336,185 |
| 9 | New Telephone Company | 236,800 | 224,450 |
| 10 | Skylink | 189,000 | 186,600 |
Moscow and St.Petersburg
Moscow License Area
Moscow passed 90% penetration mark (!). Vimpelcom grabbed more than half of total November net adds in the capital and came very close to its major competitor - MTS. The company announced that it had completely resolved numbering capacity issue and switched to its original 6-month churn period for pre-paid customers (up from 4 months introduced in June 2004). That translated in stronger than usual net additions for Vimpelcom in November.
Moscow Market Breakdown
|
Net Additions in Moscow,
|
St.Petersburg and Leningrad Region
St. Petersburg Market Breakdown
|
Net Additions in St.Petersburg
|
Beyond Russia
Quite by coincidence it turned out that in November Ukraine became an arena for both intensive political clashes and fierce competition between the rival GSM operators who rushed to capitalize on unprecedented subscriber growth. As of November 30, 2004 there were 12.2 mln subscribers or 26% penetration. In November MTS (UMC) returned leadership in net additions - 372k vs. 348k of its major rival Kiyvstar.
MTS continues to lead in Belarus and Uzbekistan both by market share and net additions.
There are a few acquisition deals pending in the CIS (Azerbaijan, Georgia).
© 2002-2004 Advanced Communications & Media Ltd.