OREANDA-NEWS. April 29, 2010. Sibirtelecom and its subsidiary companies Baikalwestcom and Yeniseywestcom reached their common gain of 200 thousand subscribers of IMT-MC-450 (CDMA 2000 1X) cellular communication of the third generation. A high-speed Internet access via a cellular phone is a particular feature of IMT-MC-450 cellular communication.  

The Company first launched this standard in the Siberian market in 2005 and started to provide voice cellular communication and high-speed data transmission services in Krasnoyarsk Krai under Wellcom brand.   Today the cellular communication and high-speed Internet access services are provided under this umbrella brand in the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tomsk and Irkutsk regions.

“The development of the IMT-MC-450 network of the third generation is a natural process caused by the growing demands of subscribers in the mobile exchange of information and high-speed Internet access. For five yeas when this cellular standard was developed, we expanded the network capacity and geography of services, came to regional centers from capital cities.  Due to IMT-MC-450 standard we offered our subscribers a broader range of high-technology services in mobile Internet implementing EV-DO technology and providing a network access speed to 3.1 Mbit/s. Also based on IMT-MC-450 networks we carry out projects on the transfer of unprofitable rural automatic exchanges to mobile communication networks of the third generation, and construct telecommunications networks in remote settlements where it is impossible to install a fixed-line phone,” said Ivan Dadykin, General Director of Sibirtelecom OJSC.    

At the present time the Company established 374 base stations in Siberian regions. “Sibirtelecom” and its subsidiary cellular operators provide a wide covering of regional presence, including districts and federal highways. The most active increment in the Wellcom subscriber base is recorded in the Irkutsk region: 100 thousand subscribers from the beginning of 2006. The Republic of Khakassia became the youngest region that implemented IMT-MC-450 standard; the Company entered the region in April of 2009 and today amounts to 1 thousand subscribers.     Wellcom services are provided to 49,000 and 50,000 subscribers in the Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Tomsk region, respectively.

For five years Sibirtelecom and its subsidiary companies invested about 2 bln rubles in the construction of IMT-MC-450 networks. This year it is planned to assign another 900 mln rubles.  In the future the Company plans to expand the coverage area, to install 130 base stations, work on the programs of development of customer loyalty, improvement of service system and development of call centers.  By the end of 2010 Sibirtelecom expects to increase the number of Wellcom service subscribers to 280 thousand.