MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- Russian mobile telecommunication operator MegaFon, Wednesday said it expects to continue to add clients in Moscow and maintain its average revenue per user, as it promotes higher use of voice and non-voice services.
MegaFon Moscow Chief Executive Igor Parfyonov said the company's ARPU has been stable for about three years, at between $18 and $19.5 a month, while those of larger, New York-listed competitors including Mobile TeleSystems and Vimpel Communications have suffered a decline.
Parfyonov said MegaFon attracted over 60% of all new subscribers in Moscow during the first quarter and increased its market share by 2%. He didn't specify how many subscribers the company has or the size of its market share.
He attributed MegaFon's rise in new users to the introduction of a new ruble-denominated tariff plan, which, unlike other operators' plans, already includes taxes. Other operators quote their prices in dollars and don't include taxes.
"People thought that the ruble tariff was clear and transparent. It was much more popular than we could have ever imagined," Parfyonov said.
Parfyonov said despite the fact that there are 40% more mobile phones in use in Moscow than there are Muscovites, there is still scope for subscriber growth.
"Other operators say that the market has reached saturation. For us, that's not the case, for us it is still growing," Parfyonov said.
MegaFon plans to continue offering more value-added services such as internet access via mobile phones, ring tones, games, mobile banking and multimedia messages, he said.
The company is aiming to increase the share of value-added services in total revenue to 17% or 18% by the end of the year from 16% in the first quarter, Commercial Director Oleg Klochko said.
To achieve that, MegaFon plans to invest over $200 million in network expansion and EDGE coverage this year. Edge, or Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution, technology provides high-speed internet access via mobile phone.
Another key factor for the company in maintaining ARPU is having expiry dates on scratch pay cards. Once the card expires, the phone is blocked, and three months later the person is no longer counted as a MegaFon user.
Parfyonov said that, unlike other operators, MegaFon won't abandon the expiry-date system, as it prevents inflation in the ARPU numbers.
MegaFon is controlled by TeliaSonera, with a stake of 44%.
Company Web site: http://www.megafon.ru
-By Anna Ivanova-Galitsina, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 974 80 55; anna.galitsina@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 19th April 2006
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/17040.php