Russia's MTS raises Ericsson contract to over $1.5 billion

Russia's biggest mobile phone operator MTS said on Friday it had increased its contract with Swedish telecom equipment supplier Ericsson to more than $1.5 billion.

MTS said it had signed an additional $286 million contract with Ericsson for the expansion and modernisation of its 2G, 3G and LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks across Russia.

Ericsson also signed a seven-year partnership agreement with Russia's No. 2 mobile operator Megafon this month.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; editing by David Clarke)