MTS awards creative duties to Rediffusion-Y&R

MTS awards creative duties to Rediffusion-Y&R

Rediff

MUMBAI: Telecom services provider MTS has awarded its creative duties to Rediffusion-Y&R after a multi agency pitch. Saatchi & Saatchi was the incumbent agency.

The account size is pegged at Rs 2 billion. Rediffusion-Y&R will start work on the account from its Gurgaon office with immediate effect, the company said.

Rediffusion-Y&R chairman and managing director Diwan Arun Nanda says, "We are delighted to be chosen to partner MTS to make them an iconic future generation telecom brand in India."

MTS is present in 12 telecom circles - Kolkata, West Bengal & Sikkim, Rajasthan, Chennai & Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar & Jharkhand, Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa, Delhi & NCR, Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Its parent company Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL) has been allocated spectrum to provide mobile telephony services in all the 22 circles across the country.

SSTL is a joint venture between Sistema of Russia and the Shyam Group of India. Sistema is the majority shareholder in this JV with a 74 per cent equity stake; the Shyam Group holds a 23.5 per cent and the remaining 2.5 per cent is publicly held.

SSTL chief marketing officer Leonid Musatov said, "We are glad to have Rediffusion-Y&R on board. We have found an ideal partner in them, knowing their exceptional track record in the telecom space in the past, and the zeal and passion shown by their team. I believe we will be able to take MTS to great heights with this partnership."

MTS claims it has over seven million subscribers in the 12 telecom circles it is operating at present. Also, MBlaze, the data service of MTS, offered in 84 towns of India, has over 0.25 million subscribers so far since its launch in November 2009.