Ukraine's URS Launched 40 Base Stations, Has 635 As of April 1"

KIEV, April 6 (Prime-Tass) -- Ukrainian mobile operator Ukrainian Radiosystems, or URS, has launched 40 base stations in January-March increasing the total number of its operating stations to 635 as of April 1, the company's General Director Sergei Mironov told reporters Thursday.

Of 40 base stations, 30 were launched in the last week of March, he said, adding that the company now operates four switchboards.

Mironov also said that the company plans to cover 80%-85% of Ukrainian territory by the end of this year. He did not provide comparisons.

Mironov reiterated that the company plans to invest a total of U.S. $500 million in its development by 2010.

URS is fully owned by Russia?s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom. URS has a GSM 900 license that covers the entire territory of Ukraine, which has a population of approximately 47.6 million people. URS also has a GSM 1800 license that covers 23 of Ukraine's 27 regions excluding Kiev, the Kiev Region, the Dnipropetrovsk Region and the Odessa Region.

URS, with 275,000 subscribers as of April 1, controls about 1% of the Ukrainian mobile telecommunication market.

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Posted to the site on 6th April 2006