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

Last updated: 13 Jan 2020 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 103

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

Synopsis

Russia has the largest mobile market in Europe, with the number of subscriptions standing at about 231 million at the beginning of 2020. Mobile SIM card penetration is high, at around 158%, although actual mobile user penetration is lower due to the popularity of multiple SIM card use. There is pressure on operator revenue from the poor economic climate, lower pricing resulting from intense competition, and regulatory measures introduced in 2018 which saw the end of roaming charges.

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. It became a significant player following its merger with Rostelecom, which it hosted as an MVNO. In late 2019 Rostelecom acquired the 55% stake in Tele2 Russia which it did not already own.

Competition in the key markets of Moscow and St Petersburg is particularly fierce, due to the size of the cities’ populations and the higher concentration of wealth there.

The extensive deployment of LTE infrastructure has supported 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 later in 2020.

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

Key developments:

Four MNOs sign agreement to cooperate in developing 5G networks;
MegaFon providing 1Gb/s data rate on its LTE network, enters talks for sale and leaseback of tower infrastructure;
MTS launches a Gigabit Class LTE-LAA service, launches Wi-Fi Calling service;
Domestic on-net roaming charges ended;
Tele2 Russia fully acquired by Rostelecom;
VEON agrees to sell tower infrastructure to Russian Towers;
Report update includes the regulator's market data to September 2019, telcos' financial and operating data to Q3 2019, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

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

Market analysis
Mobile statistics

General statistics

Mobile infrastructure

MTS
Tele2 Russia
MegaFon
VEON
ER-Telecom

4G (LTE)

Spectrum
MegaFon
Yota Networks
Tele2 Russia
Rostelecom
MTS
Beeline Russia (VEON)
Other developments

Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)
M2M networks

Mobile voice

Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE)

Mobile data

SMS/MMS

Mobile broadband

Regulatory issues

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
3G licences
800MHz spectrum
900MHz spectrum
1800MHz spectrum
2.6GHz spectrum
Roaming
Infrastructure sharing

Major mobile operators

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS)
VEON
MegaFon
Tele2 Russia/Rostelecom
SMARTS Group
Uralsvyazinform
VolgaTelecom
Skylink
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Mobile content and applications

M-commerce
M-payments

Appendix – Historic data
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Table 2 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration in Moscow, St Petersburg – 2006 – 2019
Table 3 – Change in market share of subscribers by operator – 2010 – 2019
Table 4 – Decline in in mobile service revenue – 2009 – 2019
Table 5 – Forecast 5G subscribers and coverage – 2020 – 2025
Table 6 – LTE launch dates by operator
Table 7 – Growth in the number of mobile base stations by technology - 2013 – 2018
Table 8 – Mobile ground base towers in service - 2015 – 2019
Table 9 – Development of MegaFon’s LTE infrastructure - 2014 – 2019
Table 10 – Decline in the number of SMS sent – 2011 – 2020
Table 11 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2010 – 2024
Table 12 – Growth in the number of mobile number portings – 2015 – 2017
Table 13 – Development of MTS’s mobile financial data (Russia, RUB) – 2009 – 2019
Table 14 – Development of MTS’s quarterly mobile financial data (Russia, RUB) – 2014 – 2019
Table 15 – Development of MTS capex (Russia, RUB) – 2010 – 2019
Table 16 – Development of MTS’s operating profit and margin (Russia, RUB) – 2010 – 2019
Table 17 – Growth in the number of MTS Russia’s mobile subscribers – 2004 – 2019
Table 18 – MTS Russia mobile voice and data traffic – 2014 – 2019
Table 19 – Change in the number of VEON’s mobile subscribers (Russia) – 2009 – 2019
Table 20 – VEON ARPU and MOU (Russia) – 2007 – 2019
Table 21 – Development of VEON’s mobile financial data by type (Russia) – 2007 – 2019
Table 22 – Development of MegaFon’s consolidated financial data – 2007 – 2019
Table 23 – Change in MegaFon’s capex – 2011 – 2019
Table 24 – Development of MegaFon’s mobile revenue – 2010 – 2019
Table 25 – Growth in the number of MegaFon’s mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2019
Table 26 – Development of MegaFon’s mobile data traffic – 2012 – 2019
Table 27 – Growth in MegaFon’s mobile data revenue and subscriber base – 2012 – 2019
Table 28 – Rostelecom mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2019
Table 29 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration rate – 1995 – 2009
Table 30 – Historic - Mobile service revenue – 2003 – 2009
Table 31 – Historic - Mobile VAS market share by operator – 2007 – 2015
Table 32 – MegaFon mobile revenue – 2005 – 2009
Table 33 – Historic - MTS mobile financial data (Russia, RUB) – 2004 – 2009
Table 34 – Historic - MTS mobile financial data (old style, Russia, $) – 2004 – 2012
Table 35 – Historic - Tele2 financial data – 2007 – 2012
Table 36 – Historic - MTS Russia MOU, churn and annualised ARPU – 2001 – 2015
Table 37 – Historic - MTS Russia annualised VAS – 2004 – 2015
Table 38 – Historic - MTS Russia annualised VAS revenue by type – 2010 – 2015
Table 39 – Historic - M-commerce revenue – 2011 – 2015
Table 40 – Historic - Rostelecom mobile subscribers – 2010 – 2014
Table 41 – Historic - Rostelecom mobile revenue – 2008 – 2014
Table 42 – Historic - Tele2’s mobile subscribers – 2007 – 2017
Table 43 – Historic - VEON mobile subscribers (Russia) – 2005 – 2009
Table 44 – Historic - MegaFon base stations in use – 2013 – 2015
Table 45 – Historic - SMARTS Group subscribers – 2009 – 2015
Table 46 – Historic - SMARTS Group financial data – 2006 – 2013

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Chart 2 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration in Moscow, St Petersburg – 2006 – 2019
Chart 3 – Change in market share of subscribers by operator – 2010 – 2019
Chart 4 – Decline in in mobile service revenue – 2009 – 2019
Chart 5 – Growth in the number of mobile base stations by technology - 2013 – 2018
Chart 6 – Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Chart 7 – Development of MTS’s mobile financial data (Russia, RUB) – 2009 – 2019
Chart 8 – Development of MTS’s quarterly mobile financial data (Russia, RUB) – 2014 – 2019
Chart 9 – Development of MTS capex (Russia, RUB) – 2010 – 2019
Chart 10 – Development of MTS’s operating profit and margin (Russia, RUB) – 2010 – 2019
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of MTS Russia’s mobile subscribers – 2004 – 2019
Chart 12 – Change in the number of VEON’s mobile subscribers (Russia) – 2009 – 2019
Chart 13 – Development of VEON’s mobile financial data by type (Russia) – 2007 – 2019
Chart 14 – Development of MegaFon’s consolidated financial data – 2007 – 2019
Chart 15 – Change in MegaFon’s capex – 2011 – 2019
Chart 16 – Development of MegaFon’s mobile revenue – 2010 – 2019
Chart 17 – Growth in the number of MegaFon’s mobile subscribers – 2008 – 2019
Chart 18 – Growth in MegaFon’s mobile data revenue and subscriber base – 2012 – 2019

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

Purchase this Report

Synopsis

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Market analysis

Mobile statistics

Mobile infrastructure

Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)

M2M networks

Regulatory issues

Major mobile operators

Mobile content and applications

Appendix – Historic data

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views