TOKYO, JAPAN, September 15, 2005 --- Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MTS), NTT DoCoMo, Inc.'s partner in Russia, began offering i-mode® services in the Moscow and St. Petersburg areas today. Services will eventually be expanded to other business areas of MTS.
The services, which are offered via MTS's GPRS network, represent the twelfth global market for i-mode, following Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Australia and Israel (in order of introduction).
MTS is Russia's leading mobile operator both in terms of subscribers and profitability. DoCoMo concluded an agreement in December 2004 to provide MTS with know-how, technologies and patents necessary to launch i-mode services.
DoCoMo will continue to work with its international partners to introduce i-mode services in other markets worldwide.
Outline of i-mode Services in Russia
| 1) Operator: |
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC |
| 2) Launch date: |
September 15, 2005 |
| 3) Service area: |
Moscow and St. Petersburg |
| 4) Network: |
GPRS |
| 5) Handsets: |
NEC N343i and N411i, Samsung S342i and S410i, and LG L342i |
6) Services:
- More than 120 sites from about 60 content providers at launch, available in Russian and/or English.
- Major categories, as follows:
- News & Weather
- Press & TV
- Sports
- Banks & Finance
- Leisure & Career
- Tourism & Transport
- Goods & Services
- City Guide
- Games
- Ringtones & Pictures
- Humor & Horoscopes
- Chats & Dating
- i-mode mail availability
- MMS transmission compatibility
- Fees (excluding taxes):
- Monthly fee for i-mode service: free
- GPRS data (both outgoing/incoming):
- $0.08/10KB: 08:00-22:00
- $0.06/10KB: 22:00-08:00
- Monthly content subscription fee: from $0 to $3
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company, serving more than 50 million customers. The company offers a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode® which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 45 million subscribers as the world's most popular mobile Internet service, and FOMA®, launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe, North America and Asia, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit
www.docomo.ne.jp/english.
About MTS
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MTS) is the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, operating exclusively in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE standard. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company provides its services to over 48.33 million customers, in a license footprint area covering a population of 233.1million in 87 out of 89 regions in Russia and the entire territories of Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. MTS completed its IPO and listed its Level III ADRs on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2000, under the symbol MBT. The Company's shares have been listed locally on MICEX since November 2003. Following completion of the required legal procedures in March 2004, MTS shares and ADRs have been fully convertible into GDRs. The free float of the Company's shares is approximately 37.5%. MTS' strategic shareholders are AFK Sistema, a Russian financial and industrial holding company, and T-Mobile, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom.
i-mode, and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service is only available to subscribers in Japan.
