MTS to Fully Switch to Ruble-based Tariffs Before Jul ?07

MOSCOW, Dec 18 (Prime-Tass) -- Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) expects to set tariffs for all of its services in rubles instead of the current ?conventional units? sometime in January-June 2007, the company said in a news release Monday.

The company already switched to ruble-based tariffs in southwestern Russia this month.

The tariffs are to be set including value-added tax (VAT) for better transparency and customer convenience, the company said.

MTS? subscriber base exceeds 69.68 million people, 50.56 million of which are in Russia. The company is the largest mobile operator in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, and is licensed to provide services over an area with a total population of 233.1 million people.

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Posted to the site on 18th December 2006