18th Nov 2008 12:34
Shyam Telelink Connects One Hundred Thousandth Subscriber to its CDMA Network in the State of Rajasthan
Sistema (LSE: SSA), the largest public diversified corporation in Russia and the CIS, which manages fast growing companies operating in the consumer services sector, today announced that Shyam Telelink Ltd. ("Shyam Telelink"), a subsidiary of Sistema, has connected the one hundred thousandth subscriber to its CDMA 800 MHz mobile network in the state of Rajasthan since its launch on September 30, 2008. The growth of Shyam Telelink's subscriber base has exceeded its business plan by 1.5 times.
Shyam Telelink is constructing its mobile network in five additional telecommunications circles, including Tamil Nadu and Kerala with a total population of more than 100 million people. Shyam Telelink expects to launch its mobile services in at least two further Indian circles in the first quarter of 2009. Sistema, the majority shareholder, continues to provide full support to Shyam Telelink in the rollout of its mobile services to more than 35 million subscribers by 2012, which represent approximately 7% of the Indian market.
Vsevolod Rozanov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shyam Telelink, commented: "We have reached the first significant milestone in the construction of our CDMA network in India. We increased STL total subscriber base by more than a third in less than seven weeks, as we continue to ramp up Shyam Telelink's subscriber base in the Indian market according to our business plan for the near future."
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| For further information, please visit www.sistema.com or contact: | ||
| Sistema Investor Relations | Shared Value Limited | |
| Pavel Kim | Larisa Kogut-Millings | |
| Tel: +7 495 692 22 88 | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 5010 | |
Sistema is the largest public diversified corporation in Russia and the CIS, which manages fast growing companies operating in the consumer services sector and has over 100 million customers. Sistema develops and manages market-leading businesses in selected service-based industries, including telecommunications, technology, banking, real estate, retail, media, tourism and healthcare. Founded in 1993, the company reported unaudited revenues of US$ 4.3 billion for the second quarter of 2008, and total assets of US$ 32.7 billion as at June 30, 2008. Sistema's shares are listed under the symbol "SSA" on the London Stock Exchange, under the symbol "AFKS" on the Russian Trading System (RTS), under the symbol "AFKC" on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX), and under the symbol "SIST" on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MSE).
Shyam Telelink Limited (STL) was founded in 1998 and operated in the state of Rajasthan since 2000. STL obtained a unified pan-Indian license to provide cellular services in March 2008 and now has spectrum in 22 Indian circles, covering 28 administrative states and 7 union territories with a population of approximately 1.1 billion people. Shyam Telelink is a joint venture between the Shyam Group of India & Sistema Corporation of Russia. Shyam Telelink is majority-owned by Sistema (73.7%).
Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Sistema. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might" the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. In addition, there is no assurance that the new contracts entered into by our subsidiaries referenced above will be completed on the terms contained therein or at all. We do not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, general economic conditions, our competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in our industries, as well as many other risks specifically related to Sistema and its operations.
Copyright Business Wire 2008
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