MTS CEO Alexey Kornya today revealed the telecom operator’s achievements in mobile subscriber base and the growth in Capex spending for 2019.

MTS is planning to spend up to RUB 90 billion towards Capex in 2019 as compared with RBU 160 billion during fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2019.

MTS Capex increased to RUB 39.3 billion in H1 2019 with a Capex to revenue ratio of 16.2 percent. The number of active base stations grew by nearly 5,000 in Russia, including an additional 3,600 4G base stations in 80 regions.

Capital expenditures in H1 2019 continued to be driven by investment to improve network coverage and performance, MTS said.

MTS Group revenue grew 9.4 percent in Q2 2019 to RUB 125.1 billion and OIBDA rose 4.1 percent to RUB 56.1 billion. Growth drivers were mobile service revenue in Ukraine and Russia, as well as software sales and integration services.

MTS Russia revenue increased 8.4 percent in Q2 2019 to RUB 115.3 billion. MTS mobile business in Russia rose 1.7 percent in Q2 to RUB 79.7 billion. MTS said its subscribers grew by 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter to 78.1 million. MTS fixed business revenue was RUB 15 billion.

B2C broadband market share in Moscow grew to 40.5 percent and its pay-TV market share to 44.2 percent at the end of Q2 2019. The number of FTTH GPON subscribers in Moscow reached nearly 2 million.

MTS said it has 17.7 million active MyMTS users by the end of Q2 2019.

MTS Ukraine revenue grew 20.7 to UAH 3.8 billion on the back of surging data consumption and increased retail sales. OIBDA rose 13.8 percent to UAH 2 billion with OIBDA margin of 51.7 percent.

MTS Ukraine made investment in its data networks, with 3G and 4G coverage standing at 86 percent and 62 percent, respectively. The number of subscribers using data services reached 9.6 million including 3.7 million on 4G in Ukraine. MTS Ukraine has 19.6 million mobile phone subscribers.

MTS Armenia revenue fell 3.5 percent to AMD 13.8 billion. OIBDA rose 6 percent to reach AMD 6.8 billion with OIBDA margin increasing to 49.2 percent. The mobile subscriber of MTS in Armenia rose 1.4 percent to 2.1 million.

MTS Belarus revenue increased 18.1 percent to BYN 251.4 million largely driven by rising data consumption, as well as robust retail sales. The subscriber base in Belarus rose 4 percent to 5.6 million.

MTS CEO Alexey Kornya said: “We made progress on our transformation, including taking steps to better align our organizational structure with our long-term ambitions. We are allocating top talent into emerging segments and more clearly structuring our new business lines.”