Ministry experts expect the industry to maintain its current growth rates throughout the year. They predict that corporate proceeds from communications services will increase by 27.7% to $24.28 billion, with established operators to account for $9.79 billion. Communications services for the public will grow by an estimated 27.8% to $12.7 billion, with $4.33 billion to fall on established operators' share.
According to the forecast, three-quarters of the sector's aggregate incomes, about 70%, will come from telecommunications services, notably mobile phone services, expected to make up as much as 45% of the total.
The number of mobile phone users in Russia is likely to increase further, reaching 100 million by the year's end, as compared with 72 million at the beginning.
