MOSCOW, September 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Competition on the Russian mobile telecom market will intensify following the completion of the merger of cellular assets by state-controlled telecom giant Rostelecom and regional operator Tele2 Russia into joint venture T2 RTK Holding, Fitch Ratings said in a statement Friday.

“While a price war is unlikely, the three national incumbents - MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon - will see an erosion of their market share,” following T2 RTK Holding’s expansion into new regions as well as a rollout of the third and fourth generation (3G/4G) data services for existing customers.

Pressures on average revenue per user are also possible, Fitch said.