VimpelCom launches Eurasia Mobile Challenge

Amsterdam (15 September 2015), VimpelCom Ltd. (NASDAQ:VIP), a leading global provider of telecommunications services headquartered in Amsterdam and serving over 218 million customers, has launched the Eurasia Mobile Challenge. The challenge aims to seek out young people from across Eurasia to come up with the industry’s next big mobile solution.  

The competition will see entrants from Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan invited to build a mobile solution for their country, and then pitch their concepts to a panel of judges. The search is on for the next killer app, or solution focused on addressing the opportunities and challenges for society in those countries. The competition is being run in partnership with Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd.

“As we move into an ever-more digital and customer-centric world, innovation and progress cannot happen fast enough. So while we focus on new product and service development within our own four walls, we are also bringing young and inquisitive minds into the mix from the global market place. This competition is designed to help foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem by giving young people a national, regional and potentially global platform to create commercial opportunities to shape the future,’’ said Yogesh Malik, CTO VimpelCom.

The competition provides a global platform for both technical and non-technical young talent to create opportunities that will help shape the future, as well as drive economic growth in the country and region. Each of the participating countries will host its own dedicated local Eurasia Mobile Challenge competition with entrants competing against local peers. To register, go to www.eurasiamobilechallenge.com and start working on your mobile solutions to present at the local Bootcamps being held from mid-October. During the Bootcamps, entrants will have the opportunity to enhance their concepts through a series of workshops, and benefit from access to local and international mentors who can help turn their idea into a workable mobile solution.

Submissions will be judged by industry experts from each of the countries, who will assess the entries based on innovativeness, relevance to the local community, scalability and originality. Following the workshops, three finalists from each country will progress to the regional finals in Moscow, Russia, on January 16-20, 2016. After a further competitive pitch in Moscow, three regional finalists will receive a combination of cash, devices and a fully paid trip to compete against other regional teams in the Global Mobile Challenge, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, between 22-26 February 2016.

Promising solutions deemed commercially viable could then be in line to be rolled out globally, possibly even becoming the industry’s next big mobile phenomenon.    

About VimpelCom

VimpelCom, an international telecoms company operating in 14 countries and headquartered in Amsterdam, is one of the world’s largest integrated telecommunications services operators providing voice and data services through a range of traditional and broadband mobile and fixed technologies in Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. VimpelCom’s operations around the globe cover territory with a total population of approximately 740 million people. VimpelCom provides services under the “Beeline”, “Kyivstar”, “WIND”, “Mobilink”, “banglalink”, “Telecel”, and “Djezzy” brands. As of June 30, 2015 VimpelCom had 213 million mobile customers and 6 million fixed-line broadband customers on a combined basis. VimpelCom is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol (VIP). For more information visit:http://www.vimpelcom.com

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