Mobile Content Russia

VimpelCom (which operates under the Beeline trademark) has announced test launch of mobile DVB-H TV service in Moscow city, capital of Russia.

Mobile TV service Beeline provides its users with the ability to watch common TV channels on mobile. Users can watch eleven channels. While service operates in beta mode, it is available free of charge.

Spb Software, a leading mobile software developer, is proud to inform that SPB TV, its mobile IPTV software, has received one of three winner's awards in Media category of Google's prestigious ADC2 contest. SPB Software has won this award in competition with 199 other nominees of Round II, 19 of them in the same category.

The competition was especially tough due to Google's innovative and inventive approach to the voting system. Users could participate in the evaluation process only by downloading ADC2 software from Android Market. During the second stage of the competition users were randomly offered two hundred applications, one by one. After they evaluated an application and gave it a respective rating, it disappeared from their smartphones. We believe such conditions make our achievement even more exciting.

MTS, the largest cellular network operator in Russia and CIS, has made unlimited internet access available for all subscribers signed up to MTS Connect (meaning that this flat-rate can be use only with MTS branded USB-modem) data plan in all regions of Russian Federation.

Pavel Roitberg, product director, MTS, says: “As 3G networks, launched by MTS in 43 cities of Russia, are developing, mobile web access is becoming a bulk service among our subscribers […]”.

Russian mobile advertising agency MobileDirect has offered master classes on mobile marketing in high schools, and recently has given the first lecture to students of political science faculty in Moscow State University.

Ten years ago special courses on «big internet» were read both to students and teachers in a trial mode. There were neither student books, nor lecture material. Today the history repeats itself with mobile internet. The significant example of the western market and stable mobile market growth in Russia let us say that marketing experts of new generation should have a good knowledge about mobile internet capabilities, so that they could use it in active products promotion on the market.

Russian WiMAX provider Yota has begun deploying its network in Nicaragua. The broadband Internet access penetration in Nicaragua is less than 1% which is one of the worst figures throughout the Latin American region. The extreme monopolization and weak competition in the market lead to poor service quality and high tariffs and eventually hinder the development of the communications market in the country. Considering the obvious interdependence between the penetration of communications services and the economic development of the country, the government of Nicaragua has ruled to bring the new player to the market: the player with solid experience in the development of the new generation communication networks.

MTS, the largest cellular network operator in Russia and CIS, announces that it has successfully renegotiated the terms of the EUR 300 million credit facility from Gazprombank as part of the Company's efforts to reduce the interest rates of its debt portfolio.

MTS initially entered the credit agreement with Gazprombank in late December 2008. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company was to pay an annual interest rate of 12%. As the result of negotiations, the interest rate has been decreased to 8%. The maturity of the facility has been extended by more than a year from June 2011 to September 2012. MTS has already paid down EUR 50 million of the original facility.

Russian WiMAX provider Yota announces reaching the operational breakeven point.

This benchmark has been reached by Yota in less than 5 month after the start of the commercial operation of Mobile WiMAX network in Moscow and Saint Petersburg (June 1, 2009). In Ufa the network commercial operation has started on October 12, 2009. Early October the subscriber base exceeded the point of 200 thousand active users, while daily connection rate is 2000.

MTS, the largest cellular network operator in Russia and CIS, has resumed publication of its content-providers ratings and published the rating of content-providers for third quarter of 2009. Top 5 companies in the rating are A1, IncoreMedia, Inform-Mobil, i-Free, and Neva Line.

In its ratings MTS takes into account the income its partners get from offering their content-services to MTS subscribers. The presented rating should help in informing about situation in content services market and current position of largest Russian content-providers.

MTS, the largest cellular network operator in Russia and CIS, has announced the launch of BlackBerry service, end-to-end solution for safe remote access to corporate email on BlackBerry smartphones for companies which operates outside Moscow and Moscow region. When subscribing to the service, company gets BlackBerry smartphones. MTS sets up company's servers and mail client connection. Monthly payment for unlimited BlackBerry service is 590 rubles (about 20 dollars).

First time BlackBerry email service was introduced in Ukraine in October, 2007, when MTS rolled out BlackBerry enterprise service. In June 2008, MTS launched BlackBerry email service for enterprise users in Russia. Today the service is used by 500 large companies in Russia.

VimpelCom (which operates under the Beeline trademark), today announced that its Board of Directors approved convocation of an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company to vote on an interim dividend payment based on the operating results for the nine months ending on September 30, 2009 (the «Shareholders Meeting»). The Shareholders Meeting will be held on December 17, 2009.

The Board recommended that the Shareholders Meeting approve interim dividends based on the operating results for the nine months ending on September 30, 2009 (calculated in accordance with Russian statutory accounting principles) in the amount of RUR 190.13 per common share of VimpelCom stock (or approximately US$0.32 per American Depositary Share («ADS») based on the Russian Central Bank exchange rate as of September 30, 2009), amounting to a total of approximately RUR 9.75 billion (or approximately US$324 million based on the Russian Central Bank exchange rate as of September 30, 2009), to be payable within 60 days of the approval at the Shareholders Meeting.