Sistema Shyam TeleServices hits two million subscribers

Indian mobile network operator Sistema Shyam TeleServices, which operates under the MTS India banner, has announced that it has doubled its subscriber base in just over three months, reaching the two million sign-up mark this month. The cellco also claimed that it was the fast growing telecoms operator in terms of subscribers in August 2009, registering a growth rate of 16.8% according to figures produced by the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI); MTS was, in fact, the only CDMA or GSM operator to register a double-digit month-on-month growth in August . Commenting on the milestone, Vsevolod Rozanov, president and CEO of Sistema Shyam TeleServices, said: ‘Having started our operations in India in September 2008, and having launched the MTS brand in India only earlier this year, we are really excited at the fast pace at which we have been winning customer confidence in the country. We crossed the second million in less than half the time taken to reach the first one million.’ According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, MTS India has launched commercial operations in five circles; Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Calcutta, West Bengal and Bihar. The cellco has said it hopes to achieve a pan-India presence by the third quarter of 2010.