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Facebook opens office in Russia, starts talks with mobile operators

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The online international social network Facebook is to open an office in Moscow and start talks with local mobile phone operators as part of a project to expand operations in Russia

The online international social network Facebook is to open an office in Moscow and start talks with local mobile phone operators as part of a project to expand operations in Russia, a Russian business daily said on Friday.

With over 400 million users, Facebook is the world's largest social network. Its main competitor, My Space opened a Russian office in 2009 but closed it because of spending cuts.

Experts say Facebook is likely to cooperate with the three major Russian mobile operators, MTS, VimpelCom and Megafon. The site already has around 100 partners among mobile phone operators worldwide.

Leading UK multinational mobile network operator Vodafone launched free Facebook SMS alerts and a Mobile Text service in December 2009.

"During talks with Facebook we discussed several possible areas for cooperation," Vedomosti quoted a spokesman from one of the three mobile operators as saying.

"In particular we have been talking about integrating operator services and the social networking site, about payments for Facebook content by SMS and about reduced tariffs."

Some experts expressed doubts about Facebook's chances of success in Russia.

"It would be more logical for mobile operators to work with mass brands. Russian Facebook attracts more of an elite audience," Vedomosti quoted consulting agency expert, Denis Terekhov as saying.

According to TNS Web Index, produced by leading international research company TNS Gallup Media, Facebook is likely to get 4,9-6,5 million users in Russia while its main competitor, Russian social network VKontakte, already has over 18 million users.

MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti)

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