The number of Russian mobile phone subscriptions rose by 1.2 million in March to 190.81 million, with almost half of these new subscribers joining OAO Vimpel Communications (VIP), consultants Advanced Communications & Media said Thursday.

Penetration, or the percentage of all Russians using a mobile phone, rose to 131.4% in January from 130.6% in December.

AC&M's penetration rate represents the number of valid SIM cards per 100 people and reflects that many people have more than one phone, especially in the bigger cities.

AC&M gave the following breakdown of the largest operators' subscriber details for Russia. The figures don't include subscribers of MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.

 
 Operator         March       February      On Month 
 MTS              65.11 Mln   64.83 Mln     +272,000 
 VimpelCom        49.35 Mln   48.77 Mln     +580,000 
 MegaFon          43.52 Mln   43.40 Mln     +123,000 
 Tele2            10.65 Mln   10.60 Mln     +50,000

Consultancy Web site: www.acm-consulting.com

-By Will Bland, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; william.bland@dowjones.com