Agreement on cooperation in Information and Communication Technologies signed in Kazan Kremlin

On July 6, the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and JSC MegaFon signed the Agreement on cooperation in the sphere of development of Information and Communication Technologies and Services.

The document was signed at the Kazan Kremlin by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Ildar Khalikov and Director General of JSC MegaFon Sergey Soldatenkov.

President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov took part in the event.

The Agreement was signed in the context of the meeting between Rustam Minnikhanov and Sergey Soldatenkov where they discussed further steps for development of JSC MegaFon infrastructure in the territory of Tatarstan.

Rustam Minnikhanov asserted that the MegaFon company is a strategic partner for the Republic. He assured the administration of the company that the Republik would provide all the necessary conditions to develop the infrastructure of this mobile network operator.

The JSC MegaFon representatives demonstrated the company possibilities for the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, told about the realization of the investment program in Tatarstan for the last five years. Today, the MegaFon company is planning to provide a broadband access to the Internet for those residing in the rural regions of Tatarstan, to closely interact with the Tatarstan Government in the context of realization of federal electronic programs, to support the increase in affordability of the state electronic services, etc.

In the question and answer session with the media after the meeting with Rustam Minnikhanov, Director General of JSC MegaFon Sergey Soldatenkov told that by the end of 2010 there would be 600 operator stations in Tatarstan. On the whole, in the next one or two years, the number of stations will increase tenfold, Sergey Soldatenkov said. The amount of investments in the infrastructure in the territory of Tatarstan in 2010 will be around 1 billion rubles.

Besides, as Director General of JSC MegaFon told, during the next three years the company is planning to provide a mobile broadband access to the Internet for 95% of the Republic population. By the end of 2010, "MegaFon will launch 3G networks in all 43 municipal districts of Tatarstan.