SEOUL, Korea – February 8, 2010 - Yota, the Russia-based Mobile WiMAX service provider, today announced an additional contract with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading provider of future mobile technology, to support plans for a nationwide Mobile WiMAX network in Russia.
Under the new contract, Samsung will supply more than 5,000 Mobile WiMAX macro cellular base stations and Access Control Routers (ACR) to Yota from March 2010. Yota plans to expand its Russian Mobile WiMAX network this year to 15 cities including Sochi, which will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Yota selected Samsung as its sole Mobile WiMAX equipment vendor in 2008. Since then, Samsung has supplied Yota with over 4,500 Mobile WiMAX macro and pico cellular base stations for commercial Mobile WiMAX services in Russia.
Yota currently provides commercial Mobile WiMAX services to more than 300,000 subscribers across three cities in Russia –- Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ufa. Yota has started delivering Mobile WiMAX friendly-user service to more than 50,000 subscribers in Kransnodar and Sochi. Yota has added more than 3,000 new subscribers per day and plans to expand Mobile WiMAX coverage to 180 cities in Russia.
In addition to the expansion of coverage in Russia, Yota is also actively extending its Mobile WiMAX services with Samsung in other markets around the globe. Yota launched a trial service in Nicaragua last December and is preparing to launch in Belarus in the second quarter of 2010. In January Yota was also awarded Mobile WiMAX bandwidth spectrum use for nationwide network services in Peru. Yota is aiming to provide Mobile WiMAX service across the world including Latin America, the CIS, Asia and Africa.
“We appreciate Samsung’s proven technology and accumulated experience in the Mobile WiMAX industry.” said Mr. Dennis Sverdlov, CEO of Yota. “Thanks to Samsung we can maximize the time-to-market advantage by reducing deployment time, while guaranteeing the same high quality mobile broadband service to customers across the world.” “Through our strong partnership with Samsung, Yota will develop more creative Mobile WiMAX services and expand the Mobile WiMAX market to every corner of the world,” he added.
Mr. Woonsub Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of the Telecommunication Systems Business, Samsung Electronics, said: “We’re very pleased to cooperate closely with Yota as they write a new chapter in the history of the telecommunications industry. Samsung will continue striving to deliver technology that enhances mobile broadband services through our investment in R&D activities.”