MTS on Friday announced ahead of the launch of the Nokia N97 that it has partnered with the handset maker to sell the device throughout its retail network. Nokia’s new N series device will go on sale in Russia on 17 June in its flagship store, as well as at all of MTS’s Moscow retail outlets.

At the end of the month the N97 will be made available to customers of rival Russian mobile providers, at which point the smartphone will be rolled out across MTS’s retail footprint, as well as an additional 30 Nokia stores.

“This partnership agreement with Nokia is a milestone in our development of the MTS proprietary retail network,” said Mikhail Shamolin, president and CEO of MTS. He commented that by offering the latest Nokia handsets MTS is aiming to “enhance customer experience and spur the growth of data usage by our subscribers.”

“For the first time in Russia, Nokia is launching such an important device in partnership with the largest mobile phone operator, MTS,” said Niels Nielsen, director-general of Nokia Russia. The Russian operator is also hoping to attract business users by giving away free MTS-branded business software developed specifically for the N97.

“Together with MTS, we have developed applications and widgets tailored to the Russian users,” said Nielsen.

“The primary difference of N97 from the currently available smartphones is not just the availability of touch display and QWERTY keyboard on one device, but the fact that it is a mobile computer with a range of applications that allow individual customisation of the handset,” he commented.

Specific details regarding the software have not been released, but MTS said the applications will be distributed with the handset on 2-gigabyte micro-SD memory cards.

MTS together with its subsidiaries currently has 93.03 million subscribers across Russia and the CIS. As part of its deal with Nokia, the operator will participate in joint marketing campaigns for Nokia devices, and launch a training programme for MTS’s retail staff.

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