Editing Telecommunications in Russia (section)

===1998 financial crisis===
{{main|1998 Russian financial crisis}}
When the Russian economy's collapse came about in August 1998, the market shrank drastically, where cellular operators [[MTS (network provider)|MTS GSM]], [[Beeline (brand)|Beeline]], [[MegaFon|North West GSM]] and [[Sky Link (Russia)|Skylink]] were squeezed between low traffic and huge foreign currency denominated credits and telecommunications equipment bills. In 1998, [[MTS (network provider)|MTS GSM]], [[Beeline (brand)|Beeline]], [[North-West GSM|North West GSM]] and [[Sky Link (Russia)|Skylink]] prepaid subscriptions were made at a loss and infrastructure investments fell. NMT450 operator Moscow Cellular communications was hardest hit due to its about 50% corporate users. The 1998 crisis also caused many regional operators tariff and payment problems with accumulated debt to vendors; large debts were restructured and foreign investors lost out.<ref>Telecommunications in Russia: from monopolistic village phones, to competitive global players in 20 years, L-F Pau, Prof. Mobile business, Copenhagen Business School and Rotterdam school of management, 2011</ref>