Tele2 Russia, the Russian subsidiary of a European telecommunication group based in Sweden, will take part in upcoming tenders for allocation of LTE frequencies across Russia in the 791-862 MHz range. After being postponed several times, the upcoming tenders are scheduled for the 16th of July, 2012.
“We understand that our chances are not great, based on the conditions that have been declared. Nevertheless, we will apply,” Russia’s Tele2 president Dmitry Strashnov told news agency RIA Novosti earlier this month.
According to industry analysts, only four Russian operators – MTS, Megafon, Vimpelcom, and Rostelecom – will be able to match the conditions of the tender, which were disclosed in early May. Last year, these companies had formed Soyuz LTE, a consortium created to determine the possible conditions for LTE deployments in Russia. Unsurprisingly, the conditions for frequency allocation in the 791-862 MHz range released earlier this month by the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF) were very similar to the consortium’s recommendations: four lots of LTE frequencies, 2×7.5 MHz, FDD.
A failure to obtain LTE frequencies for Tele2 – which already failed to receive 3G licenses – would mean that the company would remain a 2G-only operator without broadband activity. That could seriously hamper its profitability in the middle term, an unnamed source close to the company told business journal RBC daily, triggering the Swedish shareholders to consider selling the company.
According to RBC Daily’s unconfirmed reports, the most likely buyer of Tele2 Russia could be Rostelecom, which has repeatedly confirmed ‘big plans’ for the Russian mobile market. According to various estimates, the valuation of Tele2 Russia could reach from $3.4 to $5 billion.
The company currently serves more than 20 million subscribers in 37 Russian regions.
EWDN’s requests for comments were left unanswered.
