OREANDA-NEWS. Tele2, an alternative mobile operator, and the Skolkovo innovation center have signed an agreement on cooperation and strategic partnership. The signing took place as a part of Startup Village that is welcoming visitors on 2−3 June in Skolkovo.

The document has been signed by First Deputy CEO Aleksandr Provotorov and Aleksey Belyakov, Vice President and Executive Director at Space and Telecommunications Technologies Cluster of Skolkovo.

Tele2 CEO Sergey Emdin and Skolkovo Foundation President Viktor Vekselberg have also attended the event. The agreement was seeking to encourage cooperation between Tele2 and Skolkovo in developing IT and telecommunications.

Sides have agreed to jointly draft and hold startup contests and other events in IT and telecommunications. Participation in the projects will help Tele2 find new directions for its business development. In particular, the operator is aiming to seek new solutions in IoT, cloud services, e-commerce and finance technologies. Besides, Tele2 will look at Skolkovo projects that may be launched in the company for computerization and higher efficiency of business processes.

Tele2 has also become an industrial partner of the Startup Village project at Skolkovo. The operator has presented LTE-450 – the company has launched the network under Skylink brand on 27 May 2016 in Tver and Novgorod regions. A key advantage of this technology is high-quality coverage and high speeds of data in remote residential areas and dacha villages with no stable GSM coverage or high-speed wireless Internet. By the end of June, Tele2 will have launched LTE networks in the 450 MHz range in St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, and in Moscow Region in July.

Aleksandr Provotorov, First Deputy CEO at Tele2:

“Mobile telecommunications market is facing U-turn changes. Not to lose their stance, mobile operators have to crucially revise business strategies and expand field of operation. Market laws oblige to move beyond the role of voice and data suppliers – it is necessary to monitor fast-changing needs of users and provide a wide range of services in overall life. Skolkovo is a global centre for drawing up new projects and searching ideas for various industries, including telecommunications. Tele2 is watching closely innovative ideas of the science town. The signed agreement allows the company to create new services for subscribers and find new promising areas for its growth.”

Aleksey Belyakov, Vice President and Executive Director at Space and Telecommunications Technologies Cluster of Skolkovo:

“Success of a mobile operator largely depends on its ability to offer new services and integrate high-tech solutions into its operations. Operators have always actively invested into innovations. We hope that Skolkovo startups will show its innovative ideas in mobile applications, service platforms and new equipment, which will let telecom companies launch these projects into business.”