CEO Sees MTS As Active Player in Consolidation of Mobile Mkt

MOSCOW, May 18 (Prime-Tass) -- Russia?s largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is likely to become an active player in the consolidation process of the global mobile telecommunications market, MTS' acting President Leonid Melamed said in an interview with Prime-Tass.

Melamed said that consolidation would take place not only in the mobile sector, but in the telecommunications industry as a whole, adding that MTS may become one of the companies around which the consolidation of telecommunications assets would take place.

Speaking on MTS' expansion plans, Melamed said that the key goal of expansion was to find profitable targets. The geographic location of a target is a less important factor, he said, adding, however, that if MTS manages to start operations in economically attractive markets outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) it will positively affect the company's operating efficiency.

MTS had been trying to enter the Turkish and Indian markets last year, but failed. At the moment, the company has filed a bid for a GSM license in Egypt and a bid for the auction of Serbia and Montenegro's mobile operator Mobi 63.

Melamed was appointed acting president of MTS after former president Vasily Sidorov resigned in April. Sistema's top managers have given MTS? new managers, including Melamed, a goal to boost the company's capitalization to U.S. $20 billion. MTS' capitalization stood at about $12.6 billion as of Tuesday.

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Posted to the site on 18th May 2006