Megafon again led in net subscriber additions in Russia in December. According to figures from AC&M, the operator took 50 percent of new customers and grew its base by over 630,000 lines in the month to 61.63 million. MTS and Vimpelcom each took 21 percent of new customers. Market leader MTS grew by over 270,000 new subscribers to a total 69.95 million, and Vimpelcom added almost 265,000 for a total 57.22 million. Tele2 Russia took 8 percent of new customers and rose to 20.63 million from 20.53 million in November. Rostelecom saw its base fall to 12.59 million from 12.63 million the previous month. The total mobile subscriber base in Russia reached 227.62 million at the end of December, up by 1.24 million lines in the month. Penetration was at 156.8 percent of the population and over 200 percent in Moscow and St Petersburg.
