Russia’s number one cell Operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has made an official announcement that it will also launch the iPhone in Russia later this year. Russia will have three operators for the iPhone making it convenient for users to pick their favorite carriers.

The announcement came after major rivals Vimpelcom and Megafon said they will be offering the iPhone  3G. All the three carriers, however, have not disclosed anything about the pricing of the device. The first generation iPhones were available at around $1,000 in the gray market. The earlier rumor that the iPhone 3G will be sold at around $990 is yet to be confirmed.

The reason why Apple go for Multiple carrier in Russia is probably a strategy to make sure that buyers are not put off because of running on only one carrier.