50
Mobile Telesystems
(NYSE: MBT)
Russia
Moscow cell phone operator MobileTelesystems (MTS) got its start more than a decade ago on the back of booming demand from Russia's burgeoning middle class. MTS, already the No. 1 mobile phone operator in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, is looking to less-developed CIS regions such as Turkmenistan, where only 1% of the population has mobile phones. MTS is adding new customers at a rapid pace: Last year, its subscriber base soared to 63 million from 48 million in 2005, thanks to its flexible tariffs and low-priced calling rates. That helped drive 2005 revenues up 29% to $5 billion. Now, MTS is looking beyond its core markets to fuel future growth. It hopes to gain a GSM license in Egypt. In the meantime, MTS wants to expand in Serbia and Montenegro, where it is currently bidding for a controlling stake in local mobile operator Mobi 63.
Company Info |
|
| 2005 Rank | 8 |
| Sales* ($ Millions) | 5,011.0 |
| Sales Growth (over prev. year) |
29 % |
| Profits* ($ Millions) | 1,126.4 |
| Return on Equity | 34.2 % |
| Total Return on Sales (12-mo.) | -14.5 |
| Share Price As of 5/31/06 | 30.00 |
| CURRENT MARKET INFO | NYSE: MBT |
| No. of Employees | 23,385 |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| COMPANY WEB SITE > | |
*Trailing 12 months
Stock price data as of 5/31/06
DATA: Standard & Poor's Compustat
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Company Snapshot
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC provides global system for mobile communications (GSM) technology-based mobile telecommunications services in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It offers mobile cellular voice, data, and facsimile communication services; international roaming services, and various value-added services. Its value added services include call divert/forwarding, call barring, caller identification display, call waiting, itemization of monthly bills, voicemail, information and directory service, international access service, automatic customer care system, customer care system via the internet, short message service, general packet radio service, multimedia message service, wireless application protocol, sim-browser, and new technologies-based services, including wireless local area network and location based services. As of August, 2005, the company had approximately 48.23 million subscribers. Mobile TeleSystems was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Moscow, Russia. The company operates as a subsidiary of AFK Sistema.
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