MTS, a leading Russian mobile operator and retailer, has made its way onto the Millward Brown Optimor list of the ten most valuable global telecom brands, reaching ninth place for 2013 with a brand value of $10.63 billion.
This marks the first appearance for MTS in the elite group of sector leaders since its debut in the authoritative BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking five years ago.
The ranking announcement last week by Millward Brown, an international strategic brand consultancy, signaled that MTS is now keeping company with such leading world telecoms as AT&T, China Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone. “MTS focused on operational improvements that helped drive a profit increase,” an MB spokesman underscored.
In Millward’s overall 2013 BrandZ Top 100 standings, MTS ranks 82nd, up two lines from 2012 and next to Chase and Red Bull; this is 12 lines below the other Russian brand on the list, Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank.
Compared to its MTS brand value two years ago, however, MTS has lost some ground. In May 2011 the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands valued the brand at $10.9 billion, recognizing it as Russia’s leader.
MTS became the first Russian company to appear in the MB ranking in 2008, when it debuted there with a brand value of $8.1 billion.
