The head of MTS allowed the closure of up to 75% of communication stores

According to him, MTS periodically reduces the number of communications stores. If competitors also reduce the number of stores, then the company continues to reduce retail. At the same time, MTS maintains a competitive number of points and ensures that its share does not decrease.

When the operator sees “an anti-competitive movement,” it will be the first to drastically reduce the number of stores to “improve the entire market,” Nikolaev emphasized.

The company already has more than 4.2 thousand points of sale in the country, according to the operator’s report for the second quarter of 2024. If MTS only has 1.5 thousand stores left, its total number will be reduced by 65%, if there are 1 thousand, 75%.

At the same time, retail continues to play an important role in the business, as it is “the only physical point of contact” between the customer and MTS, says Nikolaev. He added that the company began to open large stores with products from the MTS ecosystem, and that in these stores goods and services are sold between 30 and 35% more than usual.

At the end of July 2024, the State Duma adopted a law that tightens the conditions for the sale of SIM cards. In particular, the document will prohibit Russians from owning more than 20 SIM cards, while foreigners will not be able to obtain more than 10 numbers in one hand.