MTS and Acision Announce Launch of "SMS Pro" Messaging Service

Personalised services to enrich the messaging experience for MTS subscribers and increase customer loyalty

READING, England, March 8, 2012 /CNW/ - Acision, the global leader in mobile messaging, today announced the launch of Acision Message Plus (SMS Pro) at Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS" - NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS. Commercially named 'SMS Pro', Acision Message Plus enables MTS' customers to enjoy innovative, personalised messaging services, such as SMS forwarding, SMS auto-reply and creation of contacts back up synchronization. SMS Pro has been developed to enhance the traditional text messaging experience for users, while enabling them to actively control and personalise content, providing MTS with additional messaging revenue and differentiation in a highly competitive market.  

"It is imperative that we offer our customers the latest services to ensure we stay ahead of the game in a highly aggressive mobile landscape," said Vasily Latsanych, vice-president for Marketing at MTS. "By working with Acision, we have deployed a reliable solution architecture and high-throughput platform which ensures a quality messaging service for our customers. Developed by Acision, SMS Pro is based upon the proven technology of Acision Message Plus, which enables us to take messaging to the next level and provide a personalised experience to our customers."  

The scope of the project included building the SMS Pro architecture, delivery of servers, software and switching equipment, archive set-up, software deployment and testing, as well as ensuring seamless integration with the existing Acision SMSC. As a result of the highly-scalable, high-capacity infrastructure of Acision Message Plus, MTS can continually extend its SMS Pro messaging capability and design and launch innovative new messaging services for its subscribers.  

Jorgen Nilsson, CEO at Acision, said: "Over the period of our relationship, MTS has successfully integrated multiple Acision messaging solutions - such as the Acision SMSC, MMSC and Acision High Speed Proxy (HSP) - which all currently operate on the MTS network. Having launched SMS Pro, MTS have not only future-proofed its network, but distinguished their customer offering through additional messaging functionality, which will increase loyalty by giving consumers more choice over the services they adopt today.  

"Thanks to the joint efforts of both our teams, the SMS Pro project represents a transition period where MTS can increase its ability to adapt more quickly to subscribers' demand by providing the latest, most relevant services that will ultimately strengthen its leadership in the market and drive up messaging revenue."  

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, offering mobile and fixed voice, broadband, pay TV as well as content and entertainment services in one of the world's fastest growing regions. Including its subsidiaries, the Group services over 100 million mobile subscribers. The Group has been awarded GSM licenses in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Belarus, a region that boasts a total population of more than 230 million. Since June 2000, MTS' Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). Additional information about the MTS Group can be found at http://www.mtsgsm.com.  

NOTES TO EDITORS  

As the global leader in mobile messaging, Acision connects the world by powering relevant, seamless messaging services, which enrich the mobile communications experience and create new opportunities for carriers and enterprises across the world. For more information, visit Acision at http://www.acision.com  

Press contacts: Maria Hudson, Acision, Tel: [phone] Email: [email protected], Carmel Digweed, Hotwire PR, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]