Top Russian mobile operator is taking on Uber

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS, a leading Russian mobile operator) is offering online taxi hailing and medical appointments over video, as Russia’s largest mobile carrier pursues new apps for revenue growth amid stiff wireless price competition.

The carrier made an speedy foray into Russia’s taxi business in October after Uber in July agreed to merge its operations into a joint venture with rival Yandex. That digital service and others could make up 10% of MTS’s sales in a few years and probably more than half of revenue in the longer term, Vyacheslav Nikolaev, the company’s head of marketing, said in an interview in Moscow.

“We saw an opportunity to enter the taxi market once competition weakened,” Nikolaev said. “After Yandex acquired Uber’s business in Russia and ride prices rose, we thought there could be room for another serious player on the market.”