Mobile phone industry in Russia

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), ...

The mobile phone industry in Russia has expanded rapidly to become one of the largest in the world.

History

In 1963, Russia's first mobile phone network using the car phone came into operation. ^[1]

Initial selection of technological mobile standard in Russia had been left for market forces by issuing licenses for different standards. Later, regulatory authorities have developed stricter policy. However, there still exists a great variety of both analogue and digital standards.

Initial selection of technological mobile standard in Russia had been left for market forces by issuing licenses for different standards. Later, regulatory authorities have developed stricter policy. However, there still exists a great variety of both analogue and digital standards. NMT standard was a first generation analogue mobile technology that still has footstep in Russia, employed by commercial mobile operators since the early 90s.^[2]

Regional operators have deployed the GSM^[3] networks in Russia since 1995, originally in the 900 MHZ frequency band. GSM standard is dominating in Russian mobile market with small number of NMT-450, AMPS/DAMPS subscribers.

In 1994, a joint venture of Moscow City Telephone Network, T-Mobile and Siemens, which later became part of Mobile TeleSystems, offered Russia's first mobile phone service for the public in Moscow. ^[4] In the same year in June, VimpelCom also started Beeline mobile phone service. ^[5]

In 2002, MegaFone was formed to provide all-Russia service, amalgamating Sonic Duo of Moscow, Mobikom-Novosibirsk, and other companies. ^[6] In 2007, MegaFon started Russia's first 3G service in Saint Petersburg. ^[7]

Mobile phone service providers

Main article: List of mobile network operators of Europe#Russian Federation

There are three nationwide mobile phone service providers in Russia: ^[8]

• Beeline

VimpelCom (in Russian: ВымпелКом) provides Beeline (in Russian: Билайн) mobile phone service, using 2G GSM technology, and has started 3G service, using W-CDMA technology.

• MegaFon

MegaFon (in Russian: МегаФон), invested by TeliaSonera, Telekominvest, Alpha Group, etc., provides mobile phone service, using 2G GSM technology, and began 3G service, using W-CDMA technology.

• MTS

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS, in Russian: Мобильные ТелеСистемы), a subsidiary of Sistema Group, provides mobile phone service, using 2G GSM technology, and initiated 3G service, using W-CDMA technology.

There are also other mobile phone service providers, such as:

• Sky Link

Delta Telecom (in Russian: Дельта Телеком) offers Sky Link (in Russian: Скай Линк) service in northwest Russia and other areas, using 2G CDMA and 3G CDMA2000 technology. ^[9]

Mobile phone industry

The mobile phone service provider licensing in Russia is under the control of Rospechat, the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of Russia.

For new technologies, Russia's mobile phone industry has depended on overseas companies. ^[10] For example, in 2009, MegaFon revealed that Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) was selected as the winner of its tender to building 3G network and that the following companies together would collaborate on MegaFon's 3G deployment and upgrades until 2010: ^[11]

• Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)
• Huawei Technologies
• Alcatel-Lucent
• Ericsson
• ZTE

The Russian mobile phone service operators have been active in their presence in the CIS and other foreign countries. Beeline is already in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Armenia. MegaFon is in Georgia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran. Mobile TeleSystems is in Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and India (using CDMA).

Handsets

Manufacturers

The following manufacturers currently market and sell handsets within Russia:

Acer Alcatel Apple BenQ Fly HTC Corporation LG Electronics

Nokia Philips BlackBerry Sagem Samsung Sony Ericsson Huawei ZTE

See also

• Telecommunications in Russia
• Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of Russia
• List of mobile network operators of Europe#Russian Federation

References

1. ^ The first Russian mobile phone
2. ^ Nordiac Mobile Telephone
3. ^ Global System For Mobile Communications
4. ^ History of Mobile TeleSystems
5. ^ History of VimpelCom
6. ^ History of MegaFon
7. ^ MegaFon starts 3G network. (2007)
8. ^ Mobile telephones, networks and tariffs in Russia
9. ^ CDG: CDMA networks in Russia
10. ^ Russia's three providers plan 3G
11. ^ MegaFon's 3G plan (2009)

External links

• MegaFon official site
• Mobile TeleSystems official site
• VimpelCom official site
• Delta Telecom & Sky Link official site (in Russian)