Russian mobile operator MTS said that the popularity of its LTE-supporting smartphones in Siberia grew in the second quarter, Telecompaper.com reported on July 31, 2014. The number of LTE-supporting smartphones sold nearly tripled in the operator’s Siberian shops. Average retail prices for LTE smartphones sold by the chain dropped 17 percent from last year to RUB 6,743 ($189) and by 20 percent to RUB 12,408 ($348) for LTE-supporting tablets. The white-label MTS 978 smartphone and the MTS 1078 tablet topped the list of best-selling LTE devices in Siberian MTS shops.