PRESS: Rapper Timati’s Black Star to launch mobile operator by 2018

MOSCOW, Jun 21 (PRIME) -- Black Star, founded by Russian rapper Timur Yunusov, known as Timati, has created jointly with mobile platform Atlas a technological company, called Stars, to launch mobile operator Stars Mobile, Internet banking Stars Bank, and partnership cashback program Stars CashBack, the Izvestiya daily reported on Wednesday.

The new products target young people of 16-24. Atlas, an operator of free mobile connection, will be in charge of technical matters, and Black Star will promote the initiatives.

“We plan to kick off CashBack in September–October and the mobile operator until the end of the year, and we’ll launch Internet banking in March–April 2018,” Black Star General Director Pavel Kuryanov said.

All services will work via a single mobile application. The user will be able to make purchases in stores of partners directly through the application or a browser following a specially generated link. A part of the spent amount will be reimbursed in a month on the user’s account.

Atlas’s Director Yevgeny Gordeyev said in order to launch a mobile virtual network operator, Stars Mobile is holding negotiations with the country’s four major mobile operators: MTS, MegaFon, VimpelCom, and T2 RTK Holding.

Kuryanov said, “We’ll offer our subscribers exclusive products that cannot be bought for money or very difficult to get.”

Gordeyev said the partners want to give a range of services needed only by the youth, like “limitless access to music content, video services, an option to go to a concert at a good price.”

TMT Consulting’s General Director Konstantin Ankilov said the project could be of interest to a niche audience in the short-time.

“Black Star has its own audience, and they’ll be able to monetize it shortly. Connection operators are interested in such players, because clients flow from one operator to another actively. Subscribers get rid of up to 100 million SIM cards a year. Such products raise a subscriber base without heavy expenses,” the expert said.

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