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MTS and Ericsson launch Russia's first commercial 5G-ready Private network for gold producer Polymetal

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Moscow, Russia – Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (NYSE: MBT, MOEX: MTSS), Russia’s largest mobile operator and a leading provider of media and digital services, announces the completion of construction and launch of operations of Russia's first commercial 5G-ready Private network for Polymetal International plc, one of the world's largest producers of gold and silver, at the Nezhdaninskoye gold deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The network is built on Ericsson Dedicated Networks solution.

Press release
Sep 27, 2021

Within the project, MTS deployed a wireless network for Yuzhno-Verkhoyansk Mining Company JSC, affiliated with Polymetal. The network supports integrated mining dispatching systems, positioning, remote and automated control of various objects, including excavators, drilling rigs, measuring devices, monitoring systems for remote equipment and video monitoring.

The parties signed an agreement on the construction of the network in October 2020. Within the project a full range of turnkey works and services has been implemented, including site inspection, network architecture design, supply and installation of radio base stations, network core and auxiliary equipment, network testing and commercial launch. At the first stage, the network built on Ericsson solutions will operate in the LTE standard with the possibility of smooth and fast upgrade to 5G.

The network is built on Ericsson Dedicated Networks solution, which complies with the 3GPP standards and  includes a full-fledged carrier-grade network core. It supports 4G and 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) simultaneously and allows dual-mode core capability to support 5G New Radio Standalone (5G NR SA). An enterprise can use all the carrier grade packet network functions for own mission-critical applications.

Georgy Dzhabiev, Director, Digital Solutions, MTS, says: “MTS among the first operators in the country successfully implemented a number of pilot projects with leading Russian enterprises to deploy Private LTE and 5G-ready networks for various industrial needs. We are grateful to our partner Polymetal for cooperation that resulted in the creation of the first commercial Private LTE network in Russia for remote monitoring and managing critical processes in difficult geographic and weather conditions. I am sure that the competence and experience of MTS in the implementation of unique network and IT solutions, digitalization and automation of production processes will help our customers to increase their business efficiency and improve the working conditions”.

Alexander Laguta, Head of Information Technology and Communications department, Yakutsk branch of Polymetal, says: “The system is already showing its effectiveness and is ready to move to next stage of introducing innovative technologies in production. The Private 5G-ready network will significantly increase the speed of transferring large amounts of data and reduce the cost of maintaining the technological network. One of the first projects on the basis of this network will be launch of dispatching systems, remote control of drilling rigs and video monitoring.

Alexander Romanov, Head of Private Networks, Ericsson Russia, says: “The Private Network is the backbone of critical communications infrastructure and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), not only in mining, but also in other industries with a high demand for seamless coverage, performance, security and reliability while supporting mission-critical business processes in a new digital reality. The specifics of mining companies’ operations is work in difficult geographic and weather conditions in remote areas with limited cellular coverage.  Deployment of the Private LTE network as a single high-speed platform for various technological needs will enable to significantly increase the speed of transferring large amounts of information, the fault tolerance of the private network, reduce its maintenance cost and enable introduction of advanced technologies including artificial intelligence”.

At the next stages of the project, it is planned to implement a dispatch radio communication system based on MC-PTT (Mission Critical Push-to-Talk) over LTE network and its integration with the internal telephone network of the enterprise.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

MTS

Alexey Merkutov,
Media Relations Head
Aleksej.Merkutov@mts.ru
Mobile +79161413387

Polymetal

Andrey Abashin
Press Office
Tel. +7 (812) 677 43 25
abashin@polymetal.ru

Ericsson

Tatyana Oberemova,
Head of Marketing & Communications, Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Tatyana.Oberemova@ericsson.com
Mobile +79162600497

MORE INFORMATION AT:

Ericsson Newsroom
media.relations@ericsson.com  (+46 10 719 69 92)
investor.relations@ericsson.com  (+46 10 719 00 00)

 

ABOUT ERICSSON:

Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans the business areas Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services and Emerging Business. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have delivered the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people globally. Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com

Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (“MTS” - NYSE: MBT; MOEX: MTSS), Russia’s leading mobile connectivity and digital services provider, offers a range of mobile, fixed-line, and digital services. We serve over 80 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Armenia, and Belarus, and about 9 million customers in Russia of fixed-line services, including fixed voice, broadband internet, and pay-TV. To keep pace with evolving customer demand, MTS is redefining what telecommunications services are by offering innovative products beyond its core network-related businesses in various tech segments, including Big Data, financial and banking services, internet of things, OTT, cloud computing, systems integration and e-commerce. We leverage our market-leading retail network as a platform for customer services and sales of devices and accessories. MTS maintains its leadership in the Russian mobile market in terms of revenue and profitability. MTS is majority-owned by Sistema PJSFC. Since 2000, MTS shares have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange and since 2003 - on the Moscow Exchange. For more information, please visit: www.ir.mts.ru.

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “will,” “could,” “may” or “might,” and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company’s most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned “Risk Factors” that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.

ABOUT POLYMETAL

Polymetal International plc is a top-10 global gold producer and top-5 global silver producer with assets in Russia and Kazakhstan listed on the London Stock Exchange, Moscow Stock Exchange and Astana International Exchange. The company is a member of FTSE 100, FTSE Gold Mines and MSCI Russia. Polymetal has a portfolio of nine producing gold and silver mines and an impressive pipeline of future growth projects.

www.polymetalinternational.com/en