Tele2 Russia, a subsidiary of the Swedish-based European telecom group, announced 21% annual growth of its operating revenue over the course of 2011, to 51.9 billion roubles, or approximately $1.7 billion. The company’s EBITDA reached 20.3 billion roubles, or $676 million, up 36% from the previous year.
In March, the company raised $1.06 billion in Russian bonds.
During 2011, its subscriber database in Russia increased by 11.9%, totalling 20,636,000 subscribers.
The telecom operator entered the Moscow market, launched its “Cheaper Calls” offer for Muscovites, and won new GSM licenses in several regions. But it has so far failed to play a significant part in Russia’s LTE development projects.
The company also started a program to turn part of its mobile shops in Russia into full-fledged retail outlets selling mobile services. Tele2 Russia’s own retail network now includes 500 outlets.
In addition, the company has developed partnerships with leading mobile device retailers Evroset and Svyaznoy, which have made Tele2’s SIM cards available in their outlets.
In the field of payments, the company launched ‘Mobilny platezh,‘ which allows subscribers to make Internet and mobile payments from bank accounts with bank cards.
Tele2 is now operating in almost 40 Russian regions. It is the fourth largest mobile operator in Russia by number of subscribers.
Sources: Tele2 Russia, RIA Novosti
