CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, February 19 /PRNewswire/ --

Significant changes are coming to Russia's telecommunications market, as new government initiatives and shifting demand for services are having a strong impact on revenues and the competitive landscape in one of the world's fastest-growing telecom markets, according to the latest report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Communications Markets in Russia offers a precise, incisive profile of the converged telecommunications, media, and technology sectors in Russia based on exclusive market and economic data collected by Pyramid Research. The 30-page report provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies such as WiMax, IPTV, and VoIP. Download an excerpt of this report here: http://www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=18sc=PR021909_CIRR

The telecom market in Russia generated an estimated US37.2 billion in service revenues in 2008, an increase of approximately 20 percent over 2007 revenues, notes Andrei Tchadliev, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. Pyramid estimates that Russia's telecom services sector will be worth US48.5 billion in 2013, equating to a CAGR of about 5.4 percent over the next five years, making Russia not only the largest market in the Central and Eastern European region but also the fastest growing one.

As revenue growth continues, Russia's telecom sector will undergo some significant changes that will affect the competitive landscape over the next five years, Tchadliev says. Mobile voice revenues in Russia will level off and begin to decline by 2011, but revenues from mobile data services will rise by a CAGR of nearly 14 percent over the next five years, he notes, adding that fixed broadband Internet services also will fuel revenue growth.

Government policies could have a negative impact on the revenue opportunities for competing network operators and their technology suppliers, Tchadliev warns. Russia remains one of the largest and most promising markets in the world, but its increasingly closed way of doing business, first exhibited in the energy sector, is quickly spreading to all levels of the economy. In the past year, foreign-owned companies, such as Telenor and Tele2, have seen the Russian market and regulators becoming markedly hostile to the concept of majority foreign ownership of telecommunications firms.

Communications Markets in Russia is part of Pyramid Research's Central and Eastern Europe Country Intelligence Report Series. Pyramid Research's premium Country Intelligence Reports are the industry's best available analysis on market trends, regulatory environments, and competitive dynamics for 60 countries worldwide.

Download an excerpt of this report here: http://www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=18sc=PR021909_CIRR

Communications Markets in Russia is priced at US990 and can be purchased online here: http://www.pyr.com/store/CIRRUSSIA.htm?sc=PR021909_CIRR or through Dave Williams via email at dave.williams@pyr.com or telephone at +1-858-485-8870.

For more information about Pyramid Research's products and services, please visit www.pyr.com or contact us at info@pyr.com.

About Pyramid Research

Pyramid Research (http://www.pyr.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media, and technology industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies, and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for more than 100 countries - a distinction that has remained unmatched for over 25 years. As the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry's most comprehensive market data, trusted research, and insightful technology analysis.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the US3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading's research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than US2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections About United

About United Business Media Limited (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)

United Business Media Limited (UBM) is a global media and marketing services company that informs markets and brings the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. UBM serves professional and commercial communities, from IT professionals to doctors, from journalists to jewelry dealers, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. UBM employs more than 6,500 people in more than 30 countries. UBM's businesses operating in the US include CMPMedica, Commonwealth Business Media, Everything Channel, PR Newswire, RISI, TechInsights, TechWeb and Think Services. UBM is listed on the London Stock Exchange (UBM.L) and has a market capitalization of US2.5 billion.

Press contact: Jennifer Baker +1-617-871-1910 jbaker@pyr.com

Jennifer Baker, +1-617-871-1910, jbaker@pyr.com