Russian Mobile Operator SMARTS Beta-tests Mobile TV Service

MOSCOW, Aug 17 (Prime-Tass) -- Russian regional mobile operator SMARTS has started beta testing of its mobile TV service, the company said Thursday.

Beta testing was launched Tuesday and is expected to last until September. The mobile operator hired testers and employed its own staff in the Astrakhan, Samara, Saratov and Yaroslavl regions, as well as in the constituent republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan and the cities of Penza and Cheboksary to test the service, SMARTS said.

SMARTS' TV service allows subscribers to customize their TV content, the operator said.

The TV content is supplied by Moscow-based A1 First Alternative Content Provider, or A1. A1 currently offers five TV channels for viewers aged 14 to 30 years, the mobile operator said.

SMARTS is currently negotiating with regional TV channels on joining the project.

SMARTS, or Middle-Volga Interregional Association of Radio and Telecommunication Systems, and its subsidiaries operate GSM 900/1800 standard networks in 16 Russian regions where 33.9 million people live, or 24% of the country's population.

SMARTS? overall subscriber base stood at 3.293 million users as of June 30, according to Advanced Communications & Media (AC&M).

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Posted to the site on 17th August 2006