MOSCOW, August 3 Mobile operator Tele2 (a subsidiary of Rostelecom) moved into third place in Russia in the first half of 2023, overtaking VimpelCom ( brand «Beeline») by the number of subscribers, follows from the report of Rostelecom.
«The mobile business based on Tele2 continued to strengthen its market position, while improving the quality of the subscriber base and efficiency, becoming the No. 3 player in terms of subscriber base and mobile service revenue in Russia in the first quarter of 2023,» the message says.
It follows from the company's materials that the subscriber base of Tele2 and Rostelecom (an MVNO model operator, that is, a virtual operator on the Tele2 network) grew by 1.3% over the year and amounted to 48.1 million people at the end of 2022.
As of the end of 2022, MTS is the leader in terms of the size of the client base of the mobile business in Russia (80 million subscribers), followed by MegaFon with 75.3 million subscribers, follows from company reports. According to the results of the second quarter of 2023, the number of VimpelCom subscribers (which owns the Beeline operator) decreased to 44 million users.
At the same time, the revenue of the Tele2 operator in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to 59.2 billion rubles, and in the first half of 2023 it grew by 15% year-on-year and amounted to 120.1 billion rubles. While VimpelCom's revenue in the Mobile Communications segment in the first quarter of this year grew by 4.3% yoy, to 59 billion rubles, and services — by 1.3%, to 53.7 billion rubles. For the first half of the same year, VimpelCom's revenue in the Mobile Communications segment grew by 0.9%, to 121.6 billion rubles, and service revenue — by 3.7%, to 110.7 billion rubles.
Rostelecom has published its financial results for the first time in a year and a half. The company's IFRS net profit in the first half of 2023 increased by 18% compared to the same period last year, to 26.9 billion rubles, revenue — by 15%, to 324.5 billion rubles.