MTS - Belarus

Mobile Tele Systems LLC ( MTS ) (Belarusian  Mobile TeleSystems ) is a Belarusian mobile operator. Provides GSM 900/1800, UMTS (WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA+) and 4G communication services (via beCloud network), the first mobile operator in Belarus in terms of the number of subscribers. The founders of the company are Beltelecom RUE (Belarus) (51% of the authorized capital).

The company began to carry out commercial activities on June 27, 2002 and became the second, after A1, formerly. velcom, a Belarusian GSM mobile operator. During the first four days, 2,300 subscribers connected.

On October 17, 2004, MTS was the first among Belarusian operators to reach the mark of 1 million active subscribers [ source not specified 637 days ]. In January 2005, the company's market share exceeded 50%.

 

Since its founding, the company has operated under the MTS brand of its Russian co-founder. After the rebranding of the Russian company JLLC "Mobile TeleSystems" on June 27, 2006, on the day of the 4th anniversary of its activity, it also switched to a new brand, which is an image of an egg in a red square.

On August 16, 2007, a civil case was initiated to protect the copyright of Belarusian cultural figures - the poet Ales Ryazanov and the artist Viktor Markovets, who claim their copyright on the image of an egg in a square. On October 16, 2007, the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed this claim.

At the end of 2010, MTS began upgrading its network by introducing 3G+ communications (HSPA+ standard).

Owners and management

The main owner is the state - Belarus (51% of the shares). The minority shareholder (49% of shares) is the Russian company Mobile TeleSystems.

As of October 2011, MTS PJSC (Russia) started negotiations with RUE Beltelecom. The subject of negotiations is to increase the share of shares of the Russian company MTS PJSC in Mobile TeleSystems JLLC to 100%. The amount for which the Republic of Belarus wants to sell 51% of the shares of MTS-Belarus is 1 billion US dollars. According to many experts, this amount exceeds the real market value of MTS-Belarus shares by at least two times.

Since September 20, 2021, V. V. Andreichenko has been the CEO of the company. Prior to that, since 2005, the company was headed by V. S. Karpovich.

Statistics

As of October 1, 2020, the company's services were used by 5.7 million subscribers (a market share of about 46%). MTS coverage covers 98% of the country's territory, where 99.7% of the population of Belarus lives. The technical infrastructure of the MTS network includes 6,200 base stations. Every day it processes over 35.500.000 calls in almost 22.000 settlements of Belarus [ source not specified 637 days ]. MTS provided 3G to 91% of the territory of Belarus. International roaming service is provided in 184 countries of the world in the networks of 512 GSM operators.

The network of MTS subscriber service centers includes more than 1600 salons (including more than 70 MTS own communication salons), subscriber service centers and points of sales of commercial representatives in 721 settlements of Belarus.

Criticism

From August 9 to 11, 2020 (on the day of the elections in Belarus and subsequent ones), MTS had serious problems with Internet access via fixed and mobile communications, in fact, there was no Internet.

Starting from August 23, 2020, every time during rallies in Minsk, the operator had problems with mobile Internet. MTS restricted access to the Internet referring to the activities carried out by authorized state bodies to ensure national security. Rolling Internet blackouts during protests continued until the end of the year.

On October 18, 2020, the telecom operator MTS Belarus, at the request of state authorities, limited access to mobile Internet in Minsk.

On October 26, MTS employees went to a protest action in support of the striking enterprises. In this regard, an act “On the absence of an employee in the workplace” was drawn up for the employee by her immediate supervisor, and a conversation with higher authorities also took place. The employee was transferred to another work group. MTS noted that they do not comment on this situation.

In November 2020, information appeared that MTS fixed in the labor schedule for employees a ban on public statements, publications in social networks about political, religious, racial disputes. No comments or refutation of this information were received from MTS.

Compliance

The company JLLC "Mobile TeleSystems", as the largest telecom operator in the Republic of Belarus, attaches particular importance to the compliance of its activities with generally recognized rules and standards in the field of compliance control. The company consolidates the principle of rejection of corruption in all forms and manifestations both in daily activities and in the implementation of strategic projects.

Adhering to the basic principles of compliance with anti-corruption laws and ethical business conduct in all types of business relationships, the company attaches great importance to and contributes to the formation of an efficient, transparent and competitive market for telecommunication services.

Particular attention is paid to internal control to prevent the identification of compliance risks, ongoing work in this area, including training of its employees.

In order to ensure compliance of the company's activities with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation, the Anti-Corruption Commission was established in JLLC Mobile TeleSystems.

MTS subscriber numbers

• +375  29 2  xx xx xx, +375  29 5  xx xx xx, +375  29 7  xx xx xx, +375  29 8  xx xx xx
• +375  33 3  xx xx xx, +375  33 6  xx xx xx, +375  33 9  xx xx xx

In connection with the introduction of MNP services in the Republic of Belarus, subscriber numbers can take on the following values: +375  25  xxx xx xx, +375  29  xxx xx xx, +375  44  xxx xx xx.