Russia’s leading mobile operator MTS has been valued at over $20 billion (€15.4 billion), making it the most lucrative telecom company in the country. However, the figure, which was valid as of the beginning of last month, is still considerably below the target set by Sistema, its majority (53%) owner. Data produced by Advanced Communications & Media (AC&M) shows that as of Q3 2006 there were 148 million mobile subscriptions in Russia, with MTS accounting for just under half (47.6%) of the total. With mobile take-up slowing down – penetration now stands at just over 100% – operators are planning to make their product more attractive by offering TV services. Both Sky Link (Moscow and St Petersburg) and the Sistema subsidiary Digital Broadcasting (Nizny Novgorod) are understood to have started DVB-H trails late last year.
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