Support The Moscow Times!

Yota Becomes Fourth Mobile Operator

Yota will initially operate in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as adjacent regions and eventually expand further to the whole of Russia.

Broadband service provider and smartphone manufacturer Yota has become the country's fourth mobile operator after starting to provide voice communication services, Vedomosti reported Thursday, quoting a news release of the company.

Yota is a trademark of Skartel, owned by MegaFon, one of the three national mobile operators. The other two are MTS and Beeline.

The firm will initially operate in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as adjacent regions and eventually expand further to the whole of Russia.

The company plans to have 10 million mobile network clients in the next five years, said Skartel's CEO Anatoly Smorgonsky. The basic package for subscribers with an unlimited number of calls within the network and 300 minutes of free calls to other networks will cost 750 rubles ($21) in Moscow and 590 rubles in St. Petersburg.  

Yota invited prospective clients to leave a request to use the service on its website as it intends to start selling  commercial packages later, Lina Udovenko,a Skartel spokeswoman said. Another source close to Skartel told Vedomosti that the company initially plans to test the new network on 5,000 users.

Yota brand is oriented toward advanced Internet users so it won't duplicate MegaFon's services, said a spokesperson for MegaFon Olesya Yeryomenko, adding that more focused work on market  segments under tough competition is a common practice in the world.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more