Rostelecom to sell stake in Moscow carrier

MOSCOW—The Rostelecom Company plans to sell its 23.5-percent stake in Moscow Cellular Communications (MCC) due to the financial losses the operator has incurred, announced Rostelecom Director General Sergei Kuznetsov. However, MCC hurried to report a US$2 million net profit during the first half of 2001 and an average rate per user (ARPU) of US$40 a month.
MCC, the oldest Moscow-based carrier (created in 1992), uses outdated analogue NMT-450 technology and has been gradually losing its position as a leading carrier to several regional carriers and Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Vimpelcom (BeeLine)—MCC’s subscriber base has stayed at 90,000 for two years.
At present, MCC, jointly with Lucent Technologies, is creating a digital IMT-MC (International Mobile Telecommunications Multi Carrier) trial network.
Major MCC stockholders include Rostelecom and the Moscow Urban Telephone Network (23.5 percent each), the MCT Corp. (22 percent), Millicom International Cellular S.A. (20 percent), Eye Microsurgery—Cellular Communications Company (8 percent), and the State Institute of Radio and Television (3 percent).
The Vedomosti newspaper suggested that MCT Corp. might be interested in acquiring additional MCC stake to get a controlling interest in the carrier. Wireless market experts estimate MCC to be worth US$70 million to US$100 million.