www.yota.ru news

Yota Begins Operations in Peru

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Lima, January 25, 2010

Yota, the mobile services developer and provider and one of the world’s leaders in Mobile WiMAX (4G) technology development, has announced the beginning of operations in Peru.

According to the contract between Yota and the Peruvian Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the company secures a license for 2.5-2.7 GHz spectrum for twenty years to provide telecommunications services based upon the Mobile WiMAX standard. Under the terms of the contract, Yota will build networks in 12 regions of Peru within the next 5 years. It is expected that the first 4G network will be launched in test mode in the capital of Peru, Lima, in Q4/2010, and that it will begin providing commercial service starting 2011.

Yota del Peru entity will build the network and provide services. The Russian team equipped by background accumulated in Russia and Nicaragua will be in charge of the effective and rapid launch of the Peruvian project in its early stage, and later it will transfer its knowledge and authority to local managers. WiMAX Holding, the beneficiary of Yota, owns 88% in the newly-created company. The remaining 12% are owned by BWDC, Yota’s partner in the Peruvian project.

The citizens of Peru will be provided with a wide range of Yota services developed within the scope of the company’s Russian project, and with several types of network access units: USB modems, PDAs, routers, and laptops produced by Yota’s technological partners.

“Peru’s case is unparalleled: the country holds a leading position in the region in terms of Internet users, but it experiences a critical shortage of broadband access,” Yegor Ivanov, the vice president of business development of Yota, noted. “Considering that Peru is similar to Russia in economic development and population density, we are confident that our business model, that was tested and proved itself in the Russian market, will also succeed in Peru, and that our services will turn out popular and timely.”

Peru is the third foreign market for Yota after Nicaragua and Belorussia. The proven business model and technological infrastructure, over 70 models of end-user devices with built-in Mobile WiMAX support, a set of unique mobile services as well as our experience to date — all of these allow Yota to make steady progress toward international markets.

Yota Deployed Mobile WiMAX in Nicaragua in Record-breaking Time

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300

Russia’s Yota, the mobile services developer and provider and one of the world’s leaders in Mobile WiMAX (4G) technology, has announced the test run of the mobile broadband 4th-generation Internet access network in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. The Yota network was rolled out in record time — in three months since the beginning of construction.

During the press conference attended by representatives of WiMAX Forum, Intel and Samsung, the strategic partners of Yota, journalists were told about the project and its perspectives in details. Ricardo Olarte, Northern Cone General Manager of Intel, said that «the broadband penetration in Latin America is very low, and is the reason why the initiative taken by Nicaragua will allow a significant leap in the adoption of new technologies placing the country at the forefront and generating a positive effect in people and businesses to improve the competitiveness of it».

In July 2009, the public international tender for 2.5-2.7 GHz spectrum was announced in order to provide the whole territory of Nicaragua with communications services based upon the Mobile WiMAX standard. Yota became the winner of the tender. «The implementation of this project, which is basically a rapid transition from dial-up and scarce fixed-line communications to 4G technology, will pave the way in a very short time for achieving meaningful social effects in Nicaragua,» said Dr. Mo Shakouri, Vice President and board member of WiMAX Forum.

Yota will start to operation in Nicaragua with its wireless broadband Internet access service. Later the company plans to increase the number of services and to concentrate on the high-quality voice services demanded in the market.

«The record time of deployment of the network in Nicaragua shows that Yota has accumulated the strong expertise and has created the proven network infrastructure based on Samsung equipment. All these issues allow Yota to deployment networks in any country in the world extremely fast», — commented Doctor Song, Samsung Electronics.

Yota services, developed during Yota’s Russian project, and several types of end-user equipment will be available to subscribers, both to end-users and companies: USB modems, routers. The stationary VoIP device developed specially for Nicaragua, as well as the line of inexpensive netbooks with embedded Intel^® WiMAX/WiFi module from the world’s leading producers will be launched in the market of the country.

These devices are scheduled for sale next spring when everyone will be allowed free use of the Yota services before commercial use of the network begins in mid-2010.

«We see great potential in our project in Nicaragua. The demand for communications services in this country is enormous. According to recent studies, the country cries out for telephony and for at least 300,000 new Internet connections, — says Yegor Ivanov, the vice president of business development at Yota. — Aside from Nicaragua, Yota includes Latin America, the CIS, as well as a series of countries in Asia and Africa, a total of 75 nations, into its global expansion plan. Currently, Yota manages more than USD 500mn of investment funds allocated for the international expansion in 2009. The company plans to raise the volume of investments to USD 1.5bn by the end of 2010».

The New Era of Television with Yota TV

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0300

Since November 11, Yota, the mobile services developer and provider, has launched digital mobile television broadcasting in DVB-H standard in Moscow under its own brand Yota TV.

Comprised of a few tens of transmitters, the DVB-H mobile television network built by Yota provides continuous broadcasting in Moscow.

A DVB-H equipped handset is required to use Yota TV service. Currently, such handsets are produced by virtually all leading mobile phone makers such as Nokia, Samsung, LG, and others. However, they are not shipped to Russia because of the absence of customer service.

Officially, Nokia N96 is the only DVB-H equipped handset currently available in the Russian market. It allows watching Yota TV. The service is available to subscribers of all mobile service providers as it is independent of the SIM card. The extended line of mobile devices able to receive television channels in DVB-H quality will emerge in the Russian market in the nearest time.

During the experimental broadcasting, eight TV channels will be available for free round-the-clock reception.
They are: Channel One, Russia, Vesti, Bibigon, NTV, Channel Five, Muz-TV, and 7TV.

«Yota strives to develop the most user-friendly and easy-to-use products and services for its clients. The DVB-H is the best mobile TV technology available today. It provides high-quality signal regardless of the number of users,» Yota CEO Denis Sverdlov commented on the service launch. «We foresee significant perspectives of mobile TV in our country. Also, we anticipate the growth of the DVB-H end-user device market. I am proud that we were the first in Russia to launch the new kind of television — the mobile television.»

About Yota
Yota, the mobile services developer and provider, consolidates under its brand a number of companies responsible for wireless network deployment, proprietary software development and media content aggregation. Yota offers unique mobile services that utilize the capabilities of wireless technologies: 4G Internet (Mobile WiMAX), mobile television (DVB-H), «heavy» video content delivery, access to the music catalog with hundreds of thousands of records by world’s leading record labels, and many others.

Yota is the first Russian 4G (Mobile WiMAX™) network service provider. Yota 4G Internet is unlimited, speedy, wireless, and available everywhere within the coverage area.

Yota was the first in Russia to launch the mobile television (DVB-H).

Please, find additional information on our official web site www.yota.ru.

DVB-H Standard
DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting — Handheld) is a mobile broadcasting technology used for bringing digital video signal to mobile devices such as PDAs, handsets, or portable TV sets. The standard was adopted by The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in November 2004.

Yota Begins WiMAX Network Deployment in Nicaragua

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0300

Yota Company — the provider of fast wireless Internet access services based upon the Mobile WiMAX (4G) technology has begun deploying its network in Nicaragua.

The broadband Internet access penetration in Nicaragua is less than 1% which is one of the worst figures throughout the Latin American region. The extreme monopolization and weak competition in the market lead to poor service quality and high tariffs and eventually hinder the development of the communications market in the country. Considering the obvious interdependence between the penetration of communications services and the economic development of the country, the government of Nicaragua has ruled to bring the new player to the market: the player with solid experience in the development of the new generation communication networks.

In July 2009, the public tender for 2.5-2.7 GHz spectrum was announced in order to provide the whole territory of Nicaragua with communications services based upon the IEEE 802.16e (Mobile WiMAX) standard. The bidders had to meet the following criteria: experience in development of networks of the aforesaid standard; demonstrated subscriber base; availability of end-user devices; and also the willingness to invest a certain amount of funds into the country. Yota, one of the world leaders in Mobile WiMAX networks development, became the winner of the tender.

The new entity, Yota de Nicaragua, co-owned by WiMAX Holding (75%) and a local Nicaraguan company (25%), will build the network and manage the wireless services. During the start-up period, the management team from the Russian Yota has filled key posts in Yota de Nicaragua.

In September, the deployment of the network has begun in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua and the home city for 1.3 million of the 6-million population of the country. We plan to run the network in test mode in three months since the beginning of its deployment and to provide 500 volunteers with equipment to test the coverage and services. The beginning of commercial exploitation of the network is set to mid-2010. In the judgment of the government of Nicaragua, the entrance of a new strong independent player to the local communications market will foster competition and — alongside with it — the quality of communications services.

“The economic situation in Nicaragua is far different from that of Russia and in a broad sense from that of the company adjusted to deal with,” said Yota business development director Yegor Ivanov. “However, we see a large potential of this project. According to recent studies, Nicaragua lacks at least 200,000 new Internet connections. The demand of communications services in this country is enormous. That is why the implementation of this project, which is basically the fast transition from dial-up and scarce fixed-line communications to 4G technology, will allow to achieve a tangible social effect. Besides that, this is an opportunity for us to try out our international expansion strategy on a small country.

Nicaragua is the second foreign market for Yota after Belarus. The proven business model and technological infrastructure, over 70 models of end-user devices with built-in Mobile WiMAX support, a set of unique mobile services as well as our experience to date, all of these allow Yota to make steady progress toward international markets.

Yota reaches operational breakeven point

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0300

Yota — a provider of fast wireless Mobile WiMAX (4G) Internet services announces reaching the operational breakeven point.

This benchmark has been reached by Yota in less than 5 month after the start of the commercial operation of Mobile WiMAX network in Moscow and Saint Petersburg (June 1, 2009). In Ufa the network commercial operation has started on October 12, 2009. Early October the subscriber base exceeded the point of 200 thousand active users, while daily connection rate is 2000.

Overall volume of data transferred through the Yota network in all three cities in September amounted to 1848 TB. Thus, the network traffic so far is measured in petabytes, i.e. 10 raised to the power of 15.

“It took the company less than five months of network commercial operation to reach the operational breakeven point, – underlined Yota General Director Denis Sverdlov. – Our business experience may be used as a reference point for other Mobile WiMAX operators. It demonstrates that 4G broadband services business can be quite profitable”.

In September and October we registered highest subscriptions peaks: in average, over 2000 new subscribers per day. Construction and launch of networks in other cities will encourage further active client base growth. The next cities to be switched to commercial operation are Sochi and Krasnodar. Company plans to launch operation in 15 more Russian cities in 2010.

Yota tests Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Yota which provides fast wireless Internet access services based upon the Mobile WiMAX (4G) technology, together with its partner, Samsung Electronics, has started testing the next version of the Mobile WiMAX technology — Release 2.0 (IEEE 802.16m standard).

The 802.16m standard is the release 2.0 of the broadband Mobile WiMAX access technology. It is also the most probable candidate for the new commercial standard among all of the communication technologies of the so-called IMT-Advanced (advanced IMT-2000) generation. The data transfer speed in the Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0 networks is more than four times faster than in the present Mobile WiMAX (802.16e) networks. Such speed is achieved by using the Multi-User MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technological solution which raises the efficiency of radio band utilization. It is expected that 802.16m would have higher performance than the competing 3GPP LTE standard.

The Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0 provides full backward compatibility with the Mobile WiMAX Release 1.0 (802.16e) solutions. Thereby the existing Mobile WiMAX operators can convert to the 802.16m technology with little expenses, just by updating several circuit plate units and the software of their base stations. The present Mobile WiMAX Release 1.0 devices are also fully compatible with the base stations that will be developed in the future.

As the BoD members of the standardizing WiMAX Forum organization and as the Mobile WiMAX industry leaders (in the fields of technology development and network exploitation) Yota and Samsung play an important role in setting-up of Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0 technological specifications and in the global promotion of this new technology. The 802.16m-based solution by Samsung will be demonstrated during the international ITU Telecom World 2009 fair in Geneva. This solution comprises the Samsung U-RAS Flexible base stations with upgraded modules, the existing Mobile WiMAX devices and the prototype of the new device developed for the Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0. The purpose of the demonstration is to showcase the full backward compatibility between the Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0 (802.16m) and the Mobile WiMAX Release 1.0 (802.16e) technologies.

“The new Mobile WiMAX version, the Release 2.0, is the natural technological evolution of the standard which brings the new opportunities for the development of the new online multimedia services, — emphasizes Yota CEO Denis Sverdlov. — Many of our clients, for example, watch movies using the 4G Internet. However, currently, to watch the HD movie you have to download it first. With WiMAX 802.16m one will be able to watch the HD-quality movie on the big screen on-line. And this is just one of the applications of the new technology: Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0 will bring to life new services that not only end users but even developers can now hardly imagine. Even more, the capacity of new base stations is many times more than of the current ones. This will allow us to provide services to more clients using the same number of base stations. To offer new solutions tomorrow we have to invest efforts today.”

Yota plans to install the first in the world Mobile WiMAX Release 2.0 solution from Samsung on its network by the end of 2010. Yota was among the first in the world to launch commercial Mobile WiMAX network services (in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ufa). Yota continues to develop Mobile WiMAX networks in other Russian cities and in other countries. Together with the U. S. WiMAX service provider Clearwire and the Japanese UQ Communications, Yota has started the development of the international WiMAX roaming.

Yota is in the Egg

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Yota, the first Russian provider of the high-speed Internet based on Mobile WiMAX technologies, is once again launching a new device — Yota Egg.

This is a mobile hot spot, which automatically connects to high-speed wireless 4G network Yota and distributes Internet through Wi-Fi. Any device, regardless of its operating system, that has Wi-Fi access can be connected to Internet via Yota Egg. Laptops, players, smartphones, web-cameras, game consoles etc. — to connect one or several of them to Internet, just turn the Yota Egg on anywhere within Yota coverage area.

Stylish, easy to use and carry, with a separate power source, Yota Egg will instantly create an online area wherever it's necessary; in office or in classroom, in a car or outside in park, anywhere, anytime.

The price of the new device is 5990 RUR. It can be ordered online in Yota store or starting from October, 7 can be bought in our Sales and customer service centers, sales mini-offices, and also in re:Store and Z-Store chains.

Yota Mini service plan, 900 RUR per month with unlimited downloads will be applied to individual users accessing Internet by Yota Egg. The awaited service plan Yota Day will be available for it as well.

Yota Egg supplements the wide range of other Yota access devices. It includes 4G USB modems, 4G Express cards, a few dozens of laptop models with built-in WiMAX module, the world's first GSM + Mobile WiMAX phone HTC MAX 4G and Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi routers.

Yota to present to Ufa another month of free Internet

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Yota, the leading Russian developer and provider of Mobile WiMAX 4G based Internet services presents to its Ufa subscribers an extra month of free Internet! The free of charge Internet access period has been extended till September 30, 2009.

Up until September 30, owners of 4G USB modems, 4G Express cards, 4G laptops and HTC MAX 4G phones will have free access to fast wireless Internet, huge Yota Music directory and Yota Yap-Yap photoblogging service, as well as the access to cutting edge Yota services for HTC MAX 4G phone: mobile television (Yota TV) and the service allowing to watch movies online (Yota Video).

Yota has come to Ufa early this year, in April. The company announced the competitive program called «Yota Team» in spring, which was completed successfully in the beginning of July. The Champions have checked the network in 1733 spots throughout Ufa. And in June there were started sales of subscriber devices for connection to the fast 4G Mobile WiMAX Internet.

Find out more about tariffs and conditions of subscription in «Services» and «Tariffs» sections on Yota website.

Yota subscribers base exceeded 100 000

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Yota, the company providing access to fast wireless internet via Mobile WiMAX (4G) technology, announces that the number of company subscribers has exceeded 100 000. Notable is that this number stands for active users, who pay for the Internet.

Since June 1, when Yota network commercial operation begun in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, it was joined by almost 60 thousand new subscribers. The rest are the «old» subscribers, who have connected to the network in these cities at the test operation stage and have continued using it up till now. In late June Yota network test operation has started in Ufa, where it will last till September 30. For only one month, as sales of subscribers devices were officially launched in Ufa, there were registered 5 thousand new users.

Average traffic of a Yota subscriber in July equals to 10.3 GB. The same amount at the mean is used by a subscriber of a wired internet service in Moscow. Besides, Yota customers started using their WiMAX internet mobile features more actively. If a share of mobile subscribers (those using 6-10 sectors of base stations) and ultra mobile ones (using more than 10 sectors) was 25-30% in April — May period, by July it reached 46%. Accordingly, a share of stationary subscribers (using 1-2 sectors) has decreased: from 30% in April — May period to 13% in July.

«A milestone of 100 thousand active users was taken over by Yota within only two and half months since the commercial operation was started», says Yota Sales Director Igor Torgov. «We would like to thank our clients for believing into a new technology and supporting us. In the beginning of autumn new Yota access devices will appear on the market. Thus in September, under the agreement with Intel and some laptop producers, new laptop models with built-in Mobile WiMAX module will be supplied to the Russian market by 6 vendors. In the second half of September the sales of portable Yota Egg WiMAX/Wi-Fi router will be commenced, and starting with September 1 Asus routers will be available to natural persons (previously they were sold to legal entities only)».

Yota Music: More than 600 000 licensed tracks to download

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Yota, Russia’s leading developer and provider of mobile services based on 4G Mobile WiMAX technology, has opened access to the records download from the Yota Music catalog to PC and HTC MAX 4G phone.

Thus the HTC MAX 4G handset became the first Windows Mobile based phone in the world to get a technology of downloading the tracks, protected by Windows Media DRM license directly, bypassing the computer. The technology was developed by Yota specialists in cooperation with Microsoft. DRM-subscription to the mobile device without PC mediation is a thing that no one has ever done before, and many were convinced that this is simply impossible.

Now, any Yota subscriber, paying monthly for the Internet on Yota Mini or Yota Max tariff, can download any quantity of tracks without extra payment. The records download is available through the updated Yota Music service site (www.yota.ru/ru/media) or by application for HTC MAX 4G phone, which is also available now in a new version.

Music is downloaded with the quality of 192 Кbit WMA, and is played with Windows Media Player 11. DRM-license allows listening to the music during the whole period of Yota Internet subscription paid.

Some other new features have been introduced in the Yota Music service updated version. Therefore, on the Yota site a user can now create personal music playlists, in addition to "Favorites", and thematic music channels. The caching of the chosen music channel has appeared for the mobile phone. Due to it, music on the phone plays on, even if the user leaves the coverage area for a while (for example, in an underground passage). Music is stored in RAM for 30-40 minutes forward, and the sound doesn't stop on leaving the area.

Yota Music now offers to the users more than 600 000 tracks of world and Russian leading labels. Only licensed music of all styles and epochs is presented. Unlimited streaming of all the tracks from the catalog is now available free of charge to any Internet user after a simple registration on the Yota site. And all those who use the Yota Internet, can download the music on their phone or personal computer and listen to it out of Yota coverage area, for instance, in those cities where Yota Mobile WiMAX network hasn't been deployed yet.

"Due to the joint efforts of Yota, HTC and Microsoft consumers have got the opportunity to listen to the music, download it directly to the phone, bypassing the computer. This service is convenient during the travelling, jogging or walking. There is no need to worry in advance of searching for the music and downloading it to the phone. At any time you can just press a button to start listening to your favorite musical composition", — Sergey Ezyk, the head of Microsoft Windows Mobile promotion department in Russia, commented.

Yota launches commercial operations

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Today, the 4th of June, at a joint press conference with Intel Corporation within the bounds of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Yota has announced the beginning of full-scale commercial operation of its Mobile WiMAX network.

The deployment of this up-to-date 4G telecommunication technology in Russia has taken 2 years, since Yota foundation in May 2007. At the beginning, there were 2 employees, now they are 850. The company has a national operation license for providing the Mobile WiMAX services (at a frequency of 2.5-2.7 GHz) and has already opened 5 offices: in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Ufa, Sochi and Krasnodar.

The commercial operation of the Yota network for individuals has been started in Moscow and St. Petersburg since the 1st of June, and currently more than 80 thousand subscribers use the Yota services. The commercial operation for corporate customers has been started since the 1st of April. The connection rate is more than 1300 persons per day, and this figure is growing each month. So, compared to the previous months, in April the connection rate has increased by 47.4%, and in May by 61.7%.

"We have already large subscribers base that grows every day. And statistics on this base says that the consumption pattern of mobile internet service is changing", said Yota General Director Denis Sverdlov. "High speed access, simple use of our services, our unlimited and roaming free tariffs, all it contribute to the fact that people start using the mobile internet just as they use mobile voice communications: without thinking about traffic and anyplace where it is necessary for them, without limits of technical possibility". The statistics of Yota subscribers behavior shows that the average traffic consumed per user is 10.3 GB per month. It’s 20% higher than the fixed broadband access (cable networks or ADSL) in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and 100 times (!) more than the GPRS/EDGE/3G use throughout Russia. The consumption record was established by the subscriber who downloaded 1.82 TB in April.

Half of the Yota subscribers use mobile internet more than 22 days a month. Subscribers not only use the Internet more frequently, but also become more mobile: 70% of the Yota customers use the internet in more than two locations per day. Currently, all the Yota tariffs are unlimited (both on volume of traffic and speed; due to prioritization based on quality of service, QoS principle) and roaming free. The Yota Max tariff (the maximum not on money but on the available opportunities) for owners of 4G phone HTC MAX 4G is 500 rubles per month. The Yota Mini tariff for other device types is 900 rubles per month. If we consider the average traffic as 10.3 GB per month for one Yota user, it turns out that one MB at the Yota Mini tariff costs 8.5 copecks.

Till the end of 2009 Yota is going to provide full coverage in St. Petersburg, Moscow and the nearest vicinities of both capitals, with 23 million total population. The launch of Mobile WiMAX networks is planned in Ufa, Sochi and Krasnodar, that’s 3 million population more. Concerning to the access devices, till the end of this year 500 thousand laptops on the Intel platform sold in Russia will have a built-in Mobile WiMAX module.

Intel Corporation and Yota convinced the partners producing laptops to equip them with built-in hybrid Intel ^® WiMAX / WiFi adapters with support of wireless mobile access to these networks. In late April, more than 30 models of laptops from leading manufacturers that are fully prepared to work with Yota Mobile WiMAX, has appeared in the Russian market. Moreover, access to new technology in this case is not worth anything to users because the price of models with integrated Mobile WiMAX module is the same as without it.

"Intel Corporation consider as one of the major challenges the fighting with digital inequality, because of which not all people on our planet have an equal access to information and communication technologies", the senior vice-president of Intel Sean Maloney has noticed at joint press conference in St. Petersburg. "We intend to connect to the internet one more billion population. Mobile WiMAX technology remains an important means toward this ends. Therefore, Intel is pleased to welcome an energetic Yota start and the beginning of commercial operation of the Mobile WiMAX networks in two largest cities of Russia. This is a role model for the whole world".

Yota advances towards Business

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Yota rolls out a first in the market multiuser 4G network access appliance ASUS Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center. The center is designed for office and residential wireless Internet access, as well as for building local networks and Internet telephony systems. It provides a high data transfer speed (up to 10 Mb/s) utilizing Mobile WiMAX, Wi-Fi and Ethernet technologies.

Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center allows to setup up to 4 independent Wi-Fi networks and to connect 2 conventional telephones at once. This appliance may be put on the window sill (the box has a good look). It can provide the workers of a new or a temporary office with the fast wireless Internet access. The new appliance is also ideal for building a home network or for setting up a Wi-Fi access points for HoReCa clientele. A built-in IP telephony (VoIP) functionality enables Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center users to cut their costs on long distance calls.

The large-volume magazine-sized mobile center can be set up within minutes. It does not require any administrative reconciliations or capital expenditures. Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center allows plugging in computers with any operating system. It does not require any special software to be installed.

Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center will provide the Internet access at those places where the wired Internet is unavailable or too expensive. The appliance will allow to setup separate secure networks for employees and for office visitors. If the office moves, you have just to switch off the appliance and take it with you to a new location, then plug it in at a new place and enjoy a 4G Internet in a few minutes.

ASUS Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center is the fifth Internet-access device within the Yota product line. Previously, a Samsung USB modem and an Express card, a unique GSM+Mobile WiMAX handset HTC MAX 4G, and a Samsung NC10 netbook with built-in Mobile WiMAX module were introduced to the market. In April, new models of notebooks with built-in Mobile WiMAX support will hit the market.

Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center will come to the market in April at a recommended price of 9500 RUB (285 USD, incl. VAT). The appliance would be available only to corporate clients and would be sold exclusively through Yota's affiliates. The monthly fee for using a router will be RUB 2700 (81 USD). Like all other Yota service plans, this one is unlimited.

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Specifications

Interfaces: Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/ n-draft) — up to 4 independent networks; 4 Fast Ethernet (10/100 Base-TX) ports; 2 FXS telephone ports

Modulation: Scalable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (SOFDMA): QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM

Standard: IEEE 802.16e Wave 2

Frequency band: 2.5~2.7GHz

IP telephony: Built-in SIP client, G.711, G.723, G.726, G.72 codecs

Wireless communications: Wi-Fi, Mobile WiMAX

Output signal power: IEEE 802.16e — 250 mW, 802.11 b/g/n-draft — 100 mW

Consumed power: 18 W

Input voltage: 12 V

Size: 225×155 × 42.6

Weight: 738 g

Yota for Business

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0400

Yota, a Russian developer and provider of mobile services based upon the cutting-edge 4G (Mobile WiMAX) fast wireless Internet access technology, announces its entrance to the enterprise market and the beginning of commercial service for corporate entities since April 1.

The company prepared a "Yota for Business" solution package that utilizes the following benefits of Yota's 4G network and Mobile WiMAX technology: wireless connection that doesn't require roaming setup within the territory of the Russian Federation; high data transfer speed (up to 10 Mb/s), flawless connection on the move at a speed of up to 120 km/h (75 mph). Yota network provides a high quality of services based upon the QoS and traffic prioritization systems. Yota network delivers such high-tech services as videoconferencing, video calling, and video broadcasting.

Yota Mobile WiMAX network provides an extremely high level of security and protection against unauthorized access compared to Wi-Fi networks due to using of a mutual authentication, data encryption, dynamic changing of an encryption key and information integrity checking.

Another key benefit of Yota;s business solutions is their reliability. The company provides a 24-hour monitoring of the network quality and guarantees its subscribers a 24/7 technical support.

"Yota for Business" solution package includes the following solutions:

"Mobile Staff" — a solution that provides a fast mobile access to the Internet and corporate network resources for employees and managers who often work out of the office. At any point within the Yota network coverage area, employees are able to trade data with the head office and among themselves. They can send photos and video clips, access corporate information systems, showcase "heavy" applications installed in the headquarters to the customers, collaborate remotely on presentations, make video calls and conduct videoconferences.
"Office Internet" — a solution for a fast wireless 4G Internet access that does not require any administrative reconciliations or capital expenditures. That is a true alternative to the fixed-line broadband Internet access. The solution is ideal for frequently-moving subscribers. It allows creating a local network with a fast Internet access and IP telephony and keep business' phone numbers even after moving to a new office.
"Corporate networks" — a solution that allows creating a flexible, scalable and secure distributed corporate network based upon the infrastructure of Yota's network.
"Mobile telemetry" — a solution that allows connecting remote objects by a secured wireless connection into a single technological network used to gather data and to monitor the state of remote objects. This solution will allow banks to launch new services within their ATM networks, such as video monitoring, interactive advertising, etc. Using the "Mobile telemetry", ad agencies will be able to refresh advertising blocks on their displays and to add interactivity to their advertising. Service companies will be able to monitor the state of remote objects and change their performance parameters. The solution can be used to integrate video cameras, traffic lights, information monitors and other objects of the city infrastructure into the networks which require reliable and fast data transfer channels.
"Motor office" — a solution that allows building a mobile office in the car. Such mobile offices allow to conduct video conferences on the move and to perform live broadcasts from mobile video and radio studious at any point within the coverage of Yota network. This solution can be used to deliver Internet access to passengers of business taxis and corporate buses. Emergency service providers will be able to conduct video conferences with their situation centers. And ambulances will be able to organize telemedicine sessions remotely.

All these solutions are built upon a wide range of end-user 4G devices: USB modems, Express cards, HTC MAX 4G handsets, laptops with built-in Mobile WiMAX support, and Mobile WiMAX/Wi-Fi Center routers (which will be available in the market in April).

In the corporate market, Yota uses an affiliate program. Thus "Yota for Business" solutions will represent a combination of affiliates' experience and of innovative capabilities of Yota's network. Yota already lists a lot of reputed telecom and IT companies among its partners. The main goal of Yota's affiliate policy is to engage all the leading market players, which will be able to develop and deploy the solutions of any complexity to resolve the majority of actual business tasks, into its partner network.

Yota has developed a flexible service plan for corporate services. It will charge from 1000 RUB (30 USD) incl. VAT to 1400 RUB (42 USD) per month per each end-user device depending on the number of devices connected, and 2700 RUB (81 USD) per months per each multiuser access device (router). The principal moment is that all of the corporate service plans include unlimited access to the Internet. As Yota's statistics shows, the weekly traffic volume amounts to a 38 TB in Moscow and to a 36 TB per week in St. Petersburg. Thus, Yota's network in whole delivers about 300 TB of data a month. This is more than in all of the Russian 3G networks taken together (according to ComNews Research data, in Q4/2008, the total traffic volume in all Russian 3G networks, both of CDMA and UMTS standards, totaled 648 TB, i.e. slightly more than 200 TB a month). Unlimited Yota service plans guarantee subscribers' confidence. Yota's subscribers should not worry that the connection could break up due to the exceeding of the limits in a very inopportune moment.

"'Yota for Business' solutions brought by Yota lift obsolete restrictions for using telecom technologies in business," said Denis Sverdlov, General Director of Yota, "Thus, companies receive new opportunities to shape their business processes and to establish employees' work. With Yota, they can remotely execute operations that were previously accessible only in a specially equipped offices: conduct video conferences and presentations, showcase applications, work on big files together, and use corporate information systems of their companies".

St. Petersburg-based company First popular television (1PTV) became one of the first corporate clients of Yota. The business scenario of using "Yota for Business" solutions in its case looks like the following: 1PTV equips 1100 route taxis and buses in St. Petersburg with TV screens that broadcast commercials to the passengers. The company utilizes 4G modems that download commercial films remotely over the air using the Yota network. "Our partners and customers working in all sectors of the economy have pushed us towards accepting this solution for a long time," said 1PTV General Director Alexander Spivakov, "The use of 4G technologies in the work of 1PTV will allow our agency to become one of the leading national operators in ATL services and will make our business more effective."

Yota Media: Free for Everyone!

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0300

Today, on March 23, Yota Media and Yap-Yap services have become available to each and all in the Internet. To begin using Yota's vast library of licensed multimedia content you have to sign up by visiting the web site www.yota.ru. You don't even have to be a subscriber to Yota. All you need is to be a judge of good music and of the fidelity of the reproduction.

Yota Music is a service of Yota Media that allows listening to musical records from Yota's catalog at any time online. The choice is almost unlimited: Yota Music collection features over 360,000 of licensed records provided by world's largest record labels. It comprises renowned hits as well as rare tracks.

Basically, Yota Music is an Internet media player without any memory size restriction. It is an online broadcast of music of a superior quality without any delays or advertisement. The rich library of recordings comprises top of the line musical pieces from world's classics to alternative music. Yota Music allows searching music catalog by a number of criteria: fragment of title, popularity, date of release, genre, album name, or name of an artist. Also, you can assemble your own collection of your favorite compositions, or use one of the pre-existing thematic collections.

Yota Cinema and Yota Books services will open within the Yota Media section soon.

Yota offers its customers only the licensed content!

Yap-Yap is a social service that allows placing photographs to your personal photo album right from the mobile handset. It also allows specifying the GPS coordinates of the place where the photos were taken, signing pictures and marking the locations on the map. Your friends can post their comments on your photographs and tag themselves on the pictures. The service also allows to copy your contacts from the handset, browse and edit them, and also to synchronize the contacts with other devices.

"We are trying to change at least one iota the model of consumption of the information and the content. Thus we have made our media catalog open for everyone. The new model of consumption of the information, in our opinion, lies in the ability of using a high-quality licensed multimedia content anywhere and whenever, for free and without any restriction. For the first time in the history of the Russian Internet we provide such opportunity by means of the 4G (Mobile WiMAX) technology," said Denis Sverdlov, General Director of Yota.

Samsung and Yota Introduce the First in Russia 4G-mini notebook

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0300

Samsung Electronics, the world's leading consumer electronics manufacturer and IT company, and Yota, a Russian developer and provider of mobile services, release a modified Samsung NC10 netbook with built-in Mobile WiMAX module and software to connect to the fourth-generation network Yota. The 4G netbook Samsung NC10 is the first notebook in Russia, which supports Mobile WiMAX technology. The beginning of sales of Samsung NC10 opens a door into new era in telecommunications.

Samsung NC10 adheres to a class of netbooks — light, compact and inexpensive computers that simplify the usage of the Internet. Weighting just 1.33kg, NC10 is capable to run up to 9 hours 40 minutes on battery power. An integrated 1.3 megapixel digital motion camera allows NC10 users to hold video conferences backed by a high-speed (up to 10 Mb/s) Yota network. Samsung NC10 4G netbook features a 10.2" widescreen display (WSVGA 1024Ч600 SuperBright©) of the highest quality and a normal-size, notebook PC style ergonomic keyboard. NC10 has a durable scratch-resistant case built using an innovative Samsung Duracase technology. The keyboard of NC10 coated with nano-sized silver ion powder, which prevents living and breeding of bacteria.

NC10 incorporates the smallest and lowest power processor, Intel^® Atom™, which makes it capable to tackle the majority of modern computing tasks while keeping an ultra-compact size and small weight. The pre-installed Microsoft™ Windows^® XP Home operating system and 160Gb hard drive make NC10 a powerful instrument, while the built-in Mobile WiMAX module allows unlocking the full potential of the device. In addition to WiMAX support, Samsung NC10 4G netbook comes with a vast set of networking capabilities — both wireless and wired. The device carries a number of modern networking technologies, such as Atheros^® 802.11b/g, 10/100 Ethernet LAN and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. NC10 packed with a 3-in-1 multimedia card slot, VGA output, microphone-in, headphone-out and three USB ports.

"This modification of our netbook is a historically first notebook of such class in Russia with a built-in Mobile WiMAX module. Samsung aims to dip into tomorrow, to shape new trends and to build a convenient future. Yota has already brought this future to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and soon will deliver it to other Russian cities. And the 4G netbook NC10 will be the simplest and the most affordable key to this future," said Sun Hong Lim, General Director, Samsung Electronics CIS & Baltics. Samsung NC10 provides an exceptional wireless Internet access speed within the Yota network coverage area. This allows fast downloading of a "heavy" multimedia content, playing music and watching video clips online with a quality and comfort of a dedicated fixed line. The Mobile WiMAX technology allows keeping continuous Internet connection even while moving by a car.

"The fact that Samsung manufactures the whole range of 4G-network-related equipment — from base stations to end-user devices — is a doubtless advantage in our partnership. This insures a stable network functioning as well as a peerless mobile Internet usage experience for our subscribers. The new Mobile WiMAX-enabled netbook will make this technology even more affordable and attractive to end-users," said Denis Sverdlov, General Director of Yota.

Samsung NC10 4G netbook updates the product line of Mobile WiMAX-enabled devices supported by Yota. Other products include USB modem and Express card, as well as world's first GSM+Mobile WiMAX handset HTC MAX 4G.

The sales of Samsung NC10 4G netbook will start on March 23 at a recommended retail price of 19,990 RUB. At the first days of sales, from March 23 until April 6, NC10 will be available only at M.Video store chain.