EQS-News: Mobile TeleSystems PJSC: MTS AND ERICSSON UNVEIL PRELIM RESULTS OF MASSIVE MIMO DEPLOYMENT AT WORLD CUP AND CONDUCT A 5G ESPORT DEMO

MTS AND ERICSSON UNVEIL PRELIM RESULTS OF MASSIVE MIMO DEPLOYMENT AT WORLD CUP AND CONDUCT A 5G ESPORT DEMO

Fans go crazy for video upload at football tournament in Russia

MTS and Ericsson announced preliminary results of Europe's largest deployment of Massive MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) in seven cities staging the World Cup 2018 in Russia. Mobile internet traffic volume almost tripled during the tournament, while the uplink for video streaming from the sporting events increased by up to five times as a result of implementation of 5G technologies on the MTS network.

By the launch of World Cup 2018, MTS deployed Massive MIMO in the LTE-TDD 2600 MHz band in seven of the 11 tournament cities - Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Rostov-on-Don, increasing network capacity around the stadiums, in fan zones, airports, railway stations, and recreation areas. We also built a telecommunications infrastructure in Luzhniki stadium in Moscow and the Rostov Arena stadium and provided access to other telecom operators. MTS also carried out large-scale works aimed at building and expanding the network capacity at all other stadiums staging the matches.

During the tournament, Ericsson Massive MIMO base stations on the MTS network measured an increase in uplink data throughput of up to 5 times, allowing football fans to stream high quality video content directly from their smartphones during the matches. Downlink speed and spectrum efficiency doubled, while network capacity increased four-fold.

Andrei Ushatsky, Vice President, technology and IT, MTS, commemted, "According to our data, at football games where Russia are playing, the fans generate substantially increased Internet traffic during the match, exceeding the average daily usage by at least 2.5-3 times. The extensive preparation of our network and the introduction of Ericsson's 5G solutions for the World Cup have clearly paid off, allowing MTS to successfully handle the overload and provide high-quality communication services to tens of thousands of our subscribers. High-speed mobile internet makes football fans more engaged as they can instantly share the most spectacular and exciting moments with others. Indeed, we found that during some matches uplink exceeded downlink, clearly showing that our customers preferred uploading photos and videos on social networks, streaming games and sharing content in messengers than watching video or surfing the Internet."

5G Esports demo

Today, in GUM shopping mall in Moscow, MTS and Ericsson arranged an Esport demo taking advantage of the latest 5G technology. Journalists and cybersport fans had the opportunity to experience an Esports game Assetto Corsa on two gaming VR-stations connected via Ericsson base station and mobile terminal in the 28 GHz band, testing the 5G network potential for advanced cybersport applications. The minimum latency between end devices was 4 milliseconds, at least five times less than in LTE networks.

The 5G trials are a part of our strategic partnership with Ericsson on cooperation in the development and implementation of 5G in Russia, signed in December 2015.

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For further information, please contact MTS IR team:

Tel: +7 495 223 2025
E-mail: ir@mts.ru
 

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Mobile TeleSystems PJSC ("MTS" - NYSE:MBT; MOEX:MTSS), the leading telecommunications group in Russia and the CIS, provides a range of mobile, fixed-line and digital services. We serve over 100 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, and Belarus, and about 9 million customers of fixed-line services, including fixed voice, broadband internet, and pay-TV. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, MTS is redefining what telecommunications services are by offering innovative products beyond its core network-related businesses in various tech segments, including Big Data, financial and banking services, internet of things, OTT, cloud computing, systems integration and e-commerce. We leverage our market-leading retail network as a platform for customer services and sales of devices and accessories. MTS maintains its leadership in the Russian mobile market in terms of revenue and profitability. MTS is majority-owned by Sistema PJSFC. Since 2000, MTS shares have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange and since 2003 - on the Moscow Exchange. For more information, please visit: www.ir.mts.ru.

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Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions.  We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.