The company said 3.834 million subscribers used paid in advance and pre-paid cards. Subscribers communicated 265 minutes per month in average at the end of the second quarter compared to 170 minutes in the same period of 2008.

TeliaSonera noted that in Uzbekistan, net sales nearly tripled and the subscription base grew by 2.5 million, mainly driven by a successful rebranding. Net sales of UCell made up SEK303 million in the second quarter of 2009 against SEK121 million in the same period of 2008.

The company said capital investments to UCell reached 586 million SEK in the reporting period, which increased by 247% year-on-year.