VimpelCom Russia, MTS Announces Project to Share 4G/LTE Radio Frequencies in Russia

VimpelCom Russia

and Mobile TeleSystems (MTS, NYSE:

) have announced a large-scale project to share 4G/LTE radiofrequencies in 20 regions of Russia. VimpelCom Russia and MTS have signed an amendment to their December 2014 agreement to jointly plan, develop and operate 4G/LTE networks in Russia. The amendment agreement relates to the shared use of airwaves and radio frequency channels. It provides that VimpelCom Russia and MTS will share 2,600 MHz LTE frequencies in 20 of the 36 regions of Russia that were covered by the original 2014 agreement, namely: Kaluga Region Omsk Region Khabarovsk Territory Pskov Region Vologda Region Yaroslavl Region Murmansk Region Nizhny Novgorod Region Kaliningrad Region Orlov Region Ingushetia Sakhalin Region Karachay-Cherkess Republic Chechen Republic Tula Region Kabardino-Balkar Republic Orenburg Region Mordovia Republic Altai Republic Chuvash Republic In each of these regions, VimpelCom Russia and MTS plan to share airwaves and radio frequency channels across all base stations that they jointly use pursuant to the 2014 agreement. The amendment allows for further expansion of the region list for the shared use of airwaves and frequencies, and it has a six-year term, which is extendable. In the long term, the terms of the agreement