Transformations  in
Business & Economics

From Moscow to Where? – Preliminary Aspects of the Regional Expansion Strategies of the Leading Russian Mobile Operators
Tauno Tiusanen, Juha Väätänen, Jari Jumpponen, Martin Keim

ABSTRACT. This paper analyses the regional expansion of the leading mobile operators in Russia. The regional level approach applied in this paper enables more specific analysis on the factors affecting the modality choices, especially when the national markets are large and fragmented as is the case of Russia. This preliminary research paper aims at

1. to investigate where the leading Russian mobile operators have expanded to;
2. to identify, if the chosen regions differ from those where the companies do not have operations;
3. to analyse the competition situation in selected regions.

On the basis of our results it could be stated that the regions where leading Russian mobile operators have expanded their operations differ from those without the presence of these companies. Even though the demographic and geographical aspects seem to have had strong influence in regional expansion decisions, some economic factors support the idea that operators tend to expand in rational manner.

KEYWORDS: Mobile telecommunications, transition economies, Russian regions, Mobile Telesystems (MTS), Vimpelcom.