MTS India

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MTS
Type Private
Industry Telecommunications
Founded December 2008
Headquarters New Delhi, India
Products Mobile telephony
Wireless broadband
Parent Sistema (56.68%)
Shyam Group (23.98%)
Russian government (17.14%)[1]
Website www.mtsindia.in

Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL), also known as Mobile TeleSystems and commonly referred to by the abbreviation MTS, is the Indian subdivision of Russian Mobile TeleSystems telecommunication company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It provides wireless voice, broadband Internet, messaging and data services in India. MTS India is a subsidiary of Russian conglomerate Sistema and operates across India with over 16 million customers as on 2012.

History

Sistema, the largest public diversified corporation in Russia, acquired a 10% stake in Shyam Telelink for a total cash consideration of US$ 11.4 million at the end of September 2007. Shantanu Telecom along with their partner Sistema had applied for UASL licence in 22 telecom circles of India.[2] In August 2008, they became the first new mobile operator to get a pan-India start-up spectrum to start their mobile service operations in the country. They provide mobile services based on CDMA technology under the brand name MTS India. Shyam Telecom gave Project to ZTE and Huawei for their network expansion. MTS launched operations in Uttar Pradesh East and West in October 2010.[3]

On 2 February 2012, the Supreme Court of India cancelled 122 licences of 22 mobile operators, including 21 of MTS' 22 licences, in connexion with the 2G spectrum scam. MTS lost all its licences except the one for Rajasthan circle. The Supreme Court directed the Government of India to conduct fresh auctions for sale of the spectrum within a period of four months, asking the TRAI to come up with fresh recommendations. On 21 February 2013, MTS officially announced that it would participate in the spectrum auction in March 2013, and had filed application in the Supreme Court in January 2013, stating that it intended to do so.[4] On the same date, MTS also announced that it would close operations in 10 telecom circles within 30 days. The 10 circles are - Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Punjab.[5][6] MTS had approximately 2.32 million subscribers in those 10 circles at the time of the announcement. MTS had a total national subscriber base of 14.88 million.[7] According to MTS officials, the 10 circles where MTS ceased operations constituted 15.62% of its total subscriber base and less than 15% of the company's overall revenue.[8][9]

In the 2013 spectrum auction, MTS won back licences and spectrum in 8 circles - Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (West) & West Bengal. SSTL chose not to bid for Mumbai, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (East), which meant that it would have to close operations in those circles. MTS had over 15 lakh subscribers in those 3 circles at the time.[10][11]

MTS Mblaze (EVDO Rev. A)

MTS launched EVDO Rev A based high-speed mobile broadband service, MBlaze,[12] in November 2009 and has seen tremendous market acceptance with over 5 lakh (As per February 2011 Data) customers in a short span of time. In April 2010, MTS launched MTS TV for MTS MBlaze customers. MTS MBlaze have its coverage in 100+ cities as of February 2011. MTS has also announced pan-India roaming for its users in April–May 2010.[13] MTS also provides MBrowse which is CDMA-1x technology based internet service. According to Vsevolod Rozanov, President & CEO, MTS India, "With a view to enhance customer experience, MTS has prepared a blue print to take the mobile broadband usage in the country to the next level. In a phased manner, MTS will be launching seamless HSD services across some of the busiest highways in the country.[14] The National Broadband Plan envisages provision of 160 million broadband connexions including 60 million wireless broadband connections by the year 2014.[citation needed] Hence, there is a huge opportunity for the growth and proliferation of High Speed Mobile Broadband services in the country. MTS is rapidly expanding its high speed data (HSD) network and currently addresses over 92% of data potential across India.

MTS Mblaze Ultra (3GPLUS / EVDO Rev. B Phase II)

On 5 September, MTS India announced the commercial availability of its EVDO Rev B Phase 2 network (dubbed as 3GPLUS) which is capable of offering peak downlink of 9.8 Mbit/s.[citation needed] Started with Jaipur, as Shyam Group's home town MTS MBlaze Ultra will be rolled out in top metros and other cities of India very soon.

On 23 October 2013 SSTL announced its roll out plan of its 3GPLUS network in nine circles namely Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal. Along with 3GPLUS, the company started offering its MTS Mblaze Ultra data dongles.[15]

National Telecom Award

MTS, the mobile telephony brand of Sistema-Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) has been conferred National Telecom Award [16] for being the fastest growing data operator in India. Mr. Vsevolod Rozanov, CEO, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. received the award on behalf of the company from Mr J S Sarma, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and Mr P J Thomas, Secretary, Department of Telecom, Government of India. The award is recognition of MTS establishing itself as a fastest growing data operator in the market. MTS has close to one lakh mobile broadband subscribers in less than six months, for its high speed mobile broadband service, MBlaze. Within a short span time, the company has launched its services in 15 telecom circles (UP East and West is the latest circle) across the country and has already achieved an overall subscriber base of 80 lakh customers.

Network presence

At its peak, MTS operated services in 21 out of 22 telecom circles of India. However, MTS has shut services in 13 circles and currently operates in 9 circles.

No longer operates

References

  1. ↑ timesofindia.indiatimes.com
  2. ↑ albertsparadise.blogspot.com
  3. ↑ MTS mobile services in Uttar Pradesh by early-November - Livemint
  4. ↑ MTS India To Close Down Operations In 10 Circles; 15.6% Subscribers Impacted - MediaNama
  5. ↑ Business Line : Industry & Economy / Info-tech : Sistema Shyam to shut operations in 10 circles
  6. ↑ Sistema to stop ops in 10 circles - Indian Express
  7. ↑ MTS to shut down operations in 10 circles - Times Of India
  8. ↑ Sistema to shut operations in 10 circles ahead of spectrum auction - Livemint
  9. ↑ Medanta developing cost-efficient model for healthcare - Money - DNA
  10. ↑ Sistema bags spectrum in eight circles for INR3,639 crore - The Hindu
  11. ↑ Sistema gives 3 circles a miss in CDMA auction | Business Standard
  12. ↑ business-standard.com
  13. ↑ prnewswire.com
  14. ↑ indiablooms.com
  15. ↑ "MTS launches Mblaze Ultra with 9.8Mbps download speed; rolls out 3GPLUS network in 9 circles". Evyush.com. 2013-10-23. 
  16. ↑ mtsindia.in

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