MOSCOW-Russian Communications Minister Leonid Reiman said a third GSM license can be issued in major Russian cities and territories only after penetration exceeds 10 percent of the population there.
He cited world experience as showing that no competition emerges if the penetration is less than 5 percent and that two carriers can cope with the demand if penetration is between 5 percent and 10 percent. A fourth license may be issued if penetration exceeds 18 percent.
Experts estimate the second-biggest Russian city of St. Petersburg will exceed the 10-percent penetration level this year, while in Moscow the figure is already 15 percent.
However, Reiman said “it was too early” to speak about a fourth license in Moscow, as the third license, issued to the Sonic Duo carrier, has not been implemented so far.
In Moscow, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Vimpelcom (BeeLine) are currently operating GSM networks. In St. Petersburg, North-Western GSM and Telecom-21 have GSM licenses, however, the latter has not developed a network so far.
