Vodafone has announced a strategic partnership with Russian operator MTS that will give it access to one of the world’s largest mobile markets. Vodafone has signed up MTS as a ‘partner network’ to bring a range of Vodafone services into Russia and other countries including Ukraine and Belarus. Vodafone Partner Markets are a series of strategic alliances across the globe between Vodafone Group and mobile operators which Vodafone does not own. It has more than 40 network partners across the world and has used them to expand eastwards in Europe. It already has partner networks in Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Under the terms of these agreements, Vodafone and its partners cooperate in the development of global services under dual brand logos. Services in Russia will be co-branded under a MTS-Vodafone logo. The companies said in a statement MTS would have exclusive access to Vodafone’s products and services and use its expertise in building 3G networks and mobile broadband products.

According to Wireless Intelligence, the Russian Federation is the world’s fourth-largest mobile market. MTS is Russia’s largest mobile operator. As well as having approximately 62 million domestic customers, it also has operations in Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Armenia. This gives Vodafone access to a potential 87 million subscribers.