Russia - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

1. Synopsis

2. Market analysis

3. Mobile statistics

3.1 General statistics

3.2 Mobile voice

3.2.1 Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE)

3.3 Mobile data

3.3.1 SMS/MMS

3.4 Mobile broadband

4. Regulatory issues

4.1 Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

4.2 3G licences

4.3 800MHz spectrum

4.4 900MHz spectrum

4.5 1800MHz spectrum

4.6 2.6GHz spectrum

4.7 Roaming

4.8 Infrastructure sharing

5. Mobile infrastructure

5.1 Digital networks

5.1.1 GSM

5.1.2 Third Generation (3G) mobile

5.1.3 Long-term Evolution (LTE)

5.2 Other infrastructure developments (these are examples only)

5.2.1 Narrowband IoT

5.3 M2M networks

6. Major mobile operators

6.1 Mobile TeleSystems (MTS)

6.2 VEON (VimpelCom / Beeline)

6.3 MegaFon

6.4 Tele2 Russia

6.5 SMARTS Group

6.6 Uralsvyazinform

6.7 Rostelecom

6.8 VolgaTelecom

6.9 Skylink

6.10 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

7. Mobile content and applications

7.1 Introduction

7.2 M-commerce

7.3 M-payments

8. Related reports

Table 1 Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate 1995 - 2009

Table 2 Mobile subscribers and penetration rate 2010 - 2018

Table 3 Mobile subscribers and penetration in Moscow, St Petersburg 2006 - 2016

Table 6 Mobile market share of subscribers (Russia) 2010 - 2016

Table 7 Mobile service revenue 2003 - 2017

Table 9 Mobile VAS market share by operator 2007 - 2015

Table 10 SMS sent 2011 - 2018

Table 11 Active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration rate 2010 - 2018

Table 12 LTE launch dates by operator

Table 13 MTS mobile financial data (Russia, $) 2004 - 2012

Table 14 MTS mobile financial data (Russia, RUB) 2004 - 2017

Table 15 MTS capex (Russia, RUB) 2010 - 2017

Table 16 MTS operating profit and margin (Russia, RUB) 2010 - 2017

Table 17 MTS Russia subscribers 2004 - 2017

Table 18 MTS Russia MOU, churn and annualised ARPU 2001 - 2015

Table 19 MTS Russia mobile traffic 2014 - 2017

Table 20 MTS Russia smartphone data traffic 2014 - 2017

Table 21 MTS Russia annualised VAS 2004 - 2015

Table 22 MTS Russia annualised VAS revenue by type 2010 - 2015

Table 25 VEON mobile subscribers (Russia) 2005 - 2017

Table 26 VEON ARPU and MOU (Russia) 2007 - 2017

Table 27 VEON mobile financial data (Russia) 2007 - 2017

Table 28 VEON mobile financial data by type (Russia) 2012 - 2017

Table 29 MegaFon consolidated financial data 2007 - 2017

Table 30 MegaFon capex 2011 - 2017

Table 31 MegaFon mobile revenue 2005 - 2017

Table 32 MegaFon mobile subscriber data 2008 - 2017

Table 33 MegaFon base stations in use 2013 - 2015

Table 34 MegaFon mobile data traffic 2012 - 2017

Table 35 MegaFon mobile data revenue and subscribers 2012 - 2017

Table 36 Tele2 financial data (historic) 2007 - 2012

Table 37 Tele2 subscribers 2007 - 2016

Table 39 SMARTS Group subscribers 2009 - 2015

Table 40 SMARTS Group financial data 2006 - 2013

Table 42 Rostelecom mobile subscribers (historic) 2010 - 2014

Table 43 Rostelecom mobile revenue (historic) 2008 - 2014

Table 48 M-commerce revenue 2011 - 2017

Chart 1 Mobile subscribers and penetration rate 2005 - 2018

Chart 2 MTS mobile financial data (Russia, RUB) 2004 - 2017

Chart 3 MegaFon financial data 2007 - 2017

Russia - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

Russia has the largest mobile market in Europe, with the number of subscriptions having passed 232 million. Several mobile network operators are active, although the market is dominated by four major operators (MTS, VEON, Tele2 Russia/Rostelecom and MegaFon). These have expanded their footprints widely through the acquisition of smaller regional service providers. Tele2 Russia has undergone several changes of ownership in recent years, becoming a significant player following its merger with Rostelecom. Competition in the key markets of Moscow and St Petersburg is fierce, due to the size of the cities' populations and the higher concentration of wealth there.

Mobile SIM card penetration is high, at around 164% by early 2018, although actual mobile user penetration is lower due to the popularity of multiple SIM card use. The extensive deployment of LTE infrastructure is supporting growth opportunities through mobile broadband and data services, which make up a growing proportion of overall mobile revenue. Investments in carrier aggregation and LTE-A technologies have further boosted network capabilities, while operators are also partnering with vendors to prepare for 5G.

This report provides an overview of Russia's mobile market, covering regulatory developments, the major mobile operators including MegaFon, VEON and Tele2, as well as technologies and mobile data, content and applications, and a variety of updated financial and operational statistics.

Key developments:

Roaming charges to end by mid-2018; Telenor again scales down shareholding in VEON; Tele2 Russia sets up an MVNE service; MegaFon reports data rates of up to 35Gb/s in 5G trials, deploys CA technology to deliver gigabit LTE-A; Rostelecom considers increasing its stake in Tele2 Russia; MegaFon and Rostelecom cooperate to develop 5G networks; SCRF turns down MNO requests for spectrum to trial 5G technologies; VEON contracts Huawei to trial LTE-A and 5G technologies; VEON agrees to sell tower infrastructure to Russian Towers; Ericsson and MTS sign agreement developing 5G services; Ministry of Communications removes restrictions on IMS, allowing for national VoLTE services; report update includes the regulator's market data to September 2017, telcos' financial and operating data to Q3 2017, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

MegaFon, Tele2 Russia, Skylink, VEON (VimpelCom) Volga Telecom, SMARTS Group, Uralsvyazinform, MTS.