The companies MTS‚ Nextmedia and A1 Systems have jointly launched a new “You’re the Witness” video portal for MTS subscribers on wap.mts.ru.
“You’re the Witness” is a mobile portal based on the formation of a user generated content model. It provides users with access to video content downloaded by the users themselves.
The success of the portal is provided by the GPRS Traffic Sharing business model‚ when monetization depends on the amount of information downloaded by users of the portal‚ and subscribers pay only for the GPRS-traffic‚ without having to use premium SMS.
Currently‚ the base of active users of the mobile “You Witness” project has surpassed 400‚000 subscribers‚ and the numbers keep growing. The portal provides access to huge content – tens of thousands of downloadable items‚ with the demand for services and revenues earned from their use being several times higher than the figures for classical VOD sales.
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) OJSC is the leading telecommunications operator in Russia and CIS countries. The consolidated subscriber base of the company‚ without taking into account the subscriber base of MTS Belarus‚ has grown to over 100 million people. The population base in 82 regions of Russia‚ as well as Armenia‚ Belarus‚ Ukraine‚ Uzbekistan‚ Turkmenistan‚ where MTS and its subsidiaries are licensed to provide GSM standard services‚ is more than 230 million people. Since June 2000‚ MTS has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MBT. In 2010‚ the MTS brand‚ for the third consecutive year‚ was recognized as the most valuable Russian company brand among the hundred leading brands rated by BRANDZ™‚ and published by the Financial Times and a leading international research agency Millward Brown. More information about the company can be found at www.mts.ru.