MUNICH, Germany-Mobile operator LLC MTS said it commissioned the Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group to expand its GSM network in Belarus.
LLC MTS is a joint venture of Russian mobile operator Mobile Telesystems and the Belarusian telecom group Mezhdugorodnyaya Svyaz.
Siemens IC Mobile will supply mobile switching and radio technology for the second and third phases of network construction, and equip the network with GPRS.
LLC MTS started the first network section, which covers the capital and Minsk Airport, on schedule at the end of June. The next phase will extend GSM coverage to the cities of Brest, Gomel and Vitebsk by the end of the year. The third phase will expand the network to up to 90 percent of the Belarusian territory and the major transnational roads.
“Belarus has a population of 10 million and the penetration rate is only 2 percent. This is an interesting market, which we believe is likely to experience rapid growth,” said MTS President Mikhail Smirnov.
