Telecom Lead Europe: A
Russian telecom service provider, Yota built and launched the first LTE network
in five Russian cities: Moscow, Krasnodar, Sochi, Novosibirsk, and Samara. By
2014, Yota is planning to launch the 4G LTE network in 180 cities of Russia.
Huawei is one of its technology partners for 4G services.
Igor Torgov, CEO of Yota, talks about the company’s
strategies. Excerpts of the online interview:
What are the
expansion and investment plans of Yota in existing markets?
Yota’s activity is focused primary on Russian market, but
Yota’s operation in Nicaragua is commercially successful and is being
developed. Yota doesn’t have short-term plans for leaving this country.
WiMax is losing
momentum in global markets. What are your current strategies to utilize the
existing WiMax network?
LTE technology will appear all over the territory with
wireless Yota WiMAX internet till September 2012.
Update on LTE network
expansion?
By 2014 Yota intends to launch the network of 4th generation
services in 180 cities of Russia.
Who are your main
technology partners and how do you rate them?
Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei is the producer of
Yota’s base stations.
Video is one of the
growth drivers for Yota. What are the challenges in video market?
On 18th July 2011 Yota launched its new service Yota play,
which enables users to choose and watch movies of leading studious directly on
TV and other devices.
The main goals of Yota Play service is to provide the most
convenient way for choosing and watching films on all devices and, in the first
place, on TV. Yota wants to become the most convenient service for watching
movies, that’d why new needed functions will be added. Our task is to be
available via all devices that the user has.
What is the focus on
mobile value added services (VAS)?
Client-oriented approach is the main accent in Yota’s mobile
services providing, which is based on three postulates:
– Quickly
Yota mobile internet has become so fast that it takes only
several minutes to download a movie, on-line videos do not hamper. Having such
an internet a user can stop worrying about the speed, because it is no longer a
restriction for communication with friends or downloading any content.
– Easy
Using an internet has become much easier with the newest
tariffication system, which enables users to spend the budged for using the
internet more rational.
– Honestly
There are no hidden conditions, small texts or footnotes in
Yota’s proposals.
What are the
strategies to streamline your operations using IT?
It is very important for Yota to present qualitative and
convenient product, using modern technologies. Yota’s philosophy consists of
communication with users and providing them with the advanced technologies.
Yota is a client-oriented company.
Yota has developed a unique traffic system in the borders of
which a user can tune an amount of used traffic without overpaying for the
internet. A user can choose any unlimited tariff plan with the maximal
available speed within the range from 512 Kbit/s to 20 Mb/s. With the
slider method a user can change his tariff depending on speed of the
internet. User can choose an appropriate tariff in personal account in
Yota’s site, changes go into effect immediately. User can change his tariff
plan as many times as he wants without paying extra fee. A system automatically
shows how many days are left considering money left on users’ account.
The gist of Yota’s unique tariffication system is in opportunity for users to
tune speed and waste money for the internet more rational. Yota’s internet
doesn’t have any restrictions in the amount of uploaded data, there is no
roaming between cities for Yota.
Since 2012 Yota organizes the largest in the Russia
non-commercial international festival of digital arts Yota Space. During
press-conferences of the festival, organizers and invited foreign artist
emphasized, that quantitatively and in order of merit the represented objects
of multimedia arts were at the highest level. Organizers of Yota Space brought
into Russia not only valuable works, but their artists as well. Another very
important part of Yota Space Festival is educational programs for young
video-artists and designers: presentations, workshops, seminars and lectures
that are held during the Festival.
Baburajan K
