MTS, a leading mobile operator and telecom provider in Russia and the CIS, announced on Tuesday that its subsidiary MGTS has acquired a 100% stake in Tascom, a major provider of telecommunication services to corporate clients in Moscow and the Moscow region. Tascom previously belonged to Bester Investments Limited – which itself is owned by …
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 …
LTE tenders scheduled for July; Tele2 could sell its Russian subsidiary in case of failure Read More
Iridium Communications, the global satellite communications company, expects to commence operations soon in Russia, after technical tests are completed and acceptance certificate received from the Russian authorities. “Our interconnect in Russia is built and 95 percent complete, and we’ll soon be pleased to announce our new start in Russia,” Corporate Communications Director Liz DeCastro told East-West …
Satellite phone operators Iridium and Thuraya come back to Russia Read More
Rostelecom, the state-owned telecom operator, has completed phase one of “Project 07,” the national cloud computing platform to be fully put together by 2015 as part of the federal Information Society program. The platform, launched in beta version in March under the o7.com domain name, offers cloud-based software, infrastructure and development platform services (SaaS, IaaS …
For the first time ever, all three major Russian mobile operators lost subscribers in early 2012, according to a report from AC&M Consulting, a Russian management consulting and research agency specializing in telecommunications and media. Vimpelcom, MTS and Megafon saw their active subscriber bases – defined on a six- or three-month basis – shrink by …
Mobile penetration rate over 150% in Russia, market close to saturation Read More
In 2011, the Russian mobile operator and retailer MTS – one of the two exclusive importers of iPhones to Russia – brought in as many iPhones (for $140.8 million) as it had during all the years dating back to the product’s launch in Russia in 2008. According to the IT and telecom news portal CNews.ru, …
iPhone sales finally grow – operators accused of overpricing conspiracy Read More
Last week, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) received a joint request from mobile operator Megafon and WiMAx operator Scartel, which operates under the Yota brand, to authorize a merger. Head of FAS Igor Artemyev stated that the merger could be authorized under the condition that Scartel makes its LTE …
2011 was a rather disappointing year for M&A both globally and in Russia. Compared to the 6% decline in the value of global M&A deals, Russia’s M&A market experienced an even stronger reduction in value, by almost 28%. This is a sign of its continuing higher volatility, but also the result of fewer mega deals …
Report: M&A in the Russian communications and media sector in 2011 and early 2012 Read More
Vimpelcom, a leading Russian mobile operator with a broad international presence, announced last week that it would sell its 49% stake in Vietnam’s GTel Mobile, a JV it had set up in mid-2009 with local Global Telecommunications Corporation. Under the terms of the $45 million deal, the Russian telco is relinquishing operational control of GTel …
The Russian Post was among the ten companies awarded the title of “Anti-Brand of the year” by Potrebiteli.ru, a non governmental consumer rights initiative, for the second time in two years. “Judging from the endless flow of complaints, the Post’s work does not leave some things to be desired; it just leaves anything positive to …
Russian Post and Rostelecom judged “anti-brands of the year” Read More
Megafon, Russia’s second largest mobile operator, has borrowed $4.5 billion with the intention of buying back investor Mikhail Fridman’s 25.1% stake, Reuters reported last week. If successful, the purchase will bring MegaFon closer to a $4 billion IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Megafon borrowed $1.5 billion from Sberbank, the Russian national savings bank, $1 …
Megafon ownership shaken up, IPO planned for H2 2012 Read More
RBC Daily reported earlier this week that Scartel, the leading Russian WiMAX operator operating under the Yota brand, is considering selling its Belorussian subsidiary, Yota Bel, just a few months after starting operations in this country of almost 10 million inhabitants. Such a move would confirm Scartel’s intention to focus more on Russia rather than …
Scartel to focus on Russia, attempts to sell Belorussian subsidiary Read More
