MOSCOW-Russia' second-biggest carrier Vimpelcom (BeeLine) will finally launch in St. Petersburg next week and plans to borrow close to US$100 million in the domestic market for further regional expansion.Vimpelcom is the last among the "big troika" of national carriers to launch a commercial GSM...
MOSCOW-Russia witnessed a 21.12 million phone users at the end of march, representing a 17-percent jump from the end of 2002, according to telecom consultancy AC&M.Most of the net additions happened in this city. Carrier Vimpelcom had the lion's share nationwide, with MTS closing...
KIEV, Ukraine-Two leading Ukrainian carriers continue to expand in the country, while some outsiders had to quit the market, opening a way for acquisitions and takeovers.The Ukrainian Mobile Communications (UMC), which has close to 1.8 million subscribers, said it will invest US$400 million into...
OSLO, Norway-Norway's Telenor said it sold its 49-percent stake in Russian regional operator StavTeleSot to Russian mobile company VimpelCom for $20.9 million. VimpelCom now has 90 percent of StavTelesot.Telenor said the transaction will give it a financial gain of about $9.3 million.Telenor said the...
NEW YORK-Mobile TeleSystems, which has 6.7 million subscribers in Russia, plans to raise $400 million in a private placement of dollar-denominated bonds to finance business development, including possible acquisitions of mobile operators in the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States.MTS recently announced...
MOSCOW-Biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) was stunned to see its database of clients sold on pirate CD across Moscow and launched an investigation among the staff.The CD containing private data on some 3 million Moscow clients of the company, including their account numbers,...
MOSCOW-The Russian Ministry for Anti-Monopolist Policy (MAP), which last year ordered the major national communications holding company Svyazinvest to dispose of non-core wireless assets, changed its mind and allowed the holding to play a role in the mobile market.In February 2002, Svyazinvest completed the...
HELSINKI, Finland-The Moscow-based Sistema Joint Stock Financial Corporation (Sistema) has approached several leading Finnish telecom companies and venture capital houses in search of Western technical expertise and funds to conduct a mixed US$1 billion mobile technology investment in India. The bulk of Sistema's proposed...
KISHINEV, Moldova-Biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) failed to win a place in the wireless market of Moldova as its major shareholder, Sistema Financial Corporation, and the Moldovan government disagreed over the price for the 51-percent stake of the national Moldtelecom operator.As a result,...
MOSCOW-Russia's biggest carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) again delayed the launch of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) into commercial operation because of a lack of demand. The carrier initially planned the launch for December 2000, but it has postponed it several times since then. "We've...
KISHINEV, Moldova-The Interdnestrcom carrier from the breakaway Dnestr region of Moldova said it completed the modernization of its CDMA IS-95 network and launched third-generation (3G) cdma2000 1x services.Lucent Technologies, which helped Interdnestrcom launch IS-95 network in 1999, supplied the necessary equipment and software for...
MOSCOW-The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has reportedly reached a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Ukraine's second-biggest operator Ukrainian Mobile Communications (UMC).UMC shareholders include government-owned Ukrtelecom (51 percent), Deutsche Telekom, Danish TDC, and Dutch KPN, with 16.33 percent each.The Vedomosti business...
MOSCOW-The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is negotiating a place in the telecom market of the former Soviet republic of Armenia, where the national operator is likely to lose its wireless monopoly next month."Currently MTS is conducting negotiations and will most likely make...
MOSCOW-Deutsche Telekom is reportedly considering the sale of a part of its 40-percent stake in Russia's biggest carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) to decrease its multi-billion dollar debt load.The Vedomosti newspaper quoted an anonymous high-ranking official from Deutsche Telekom as saying the corporation may decrease...
MOSCOW-The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is working to receive a third GSM license in the tiny former Soviet republic of Moldova through a multi-step deal, which is likely to begin with the purchase of the national Moldtelecom landline operator.Five years ago, the...
MUNICH, Germany-Mobile operator LLC MTS said it commissioned the Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group to expand its GSM network in Belarus.LLC MTS is a joint venture of Russian mobile operator Mobile Telesystems and the Belarusian telecom group Mezhdugorodnyaya Svyaz.Siemens IC Mobile will supply...
KAZAN, Tatarstan, Russia-Two regional carriers from the Russian Muslim republic of Tatarstan on the Volga offered stock for public sale, forcing the biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) to reconsider its plans to enter the local market where it currently lacks a license.MTS was...
MOSCOW-The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) finally launched a GSM 900/1800 MHz network in Belarus, thus making its first step into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) uniting 12 former Soviet republics.MTS, whose launch was delayed by Belarussian red tape for two months,...
MOSCOW-Russia will not issue third-generation (3G) licenses this year, and the earliest possible award date is the beginning of 2003. However, everything will depend on the presence of the necessary equipment, according to Communications Minister Leonid Reiman."Initially we were promised that equipment would come...
MINSK, Belarus—Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies launched its pilot GSM network in Belarus. The ceremony, which looked like a clear advertising event, was attended by the Chinese ambassador and top Belarussian communication officials.Huawei first tried to enter the Belarusian market when it bid at a...
MOSCOW—The U.S.-based MCT Corporation sold a considerable part of its Russian Indigo project, and market experts believe that may signal an end to the ambitious plan of creating a fourth nationwide network in the country.The RTK-Leasing Company, in which the St. Petersburg-based Gamma Group...
MUNICH, Germany—Siemens has confirmed that it won an order to supply the equipment for the second GSM network in the Republic of Belarus owned by Russia-based Mobile Telesystems (MTS) and Belasrussian company Mezhdugorodnaya svyaz. Global Wireless first reported the contract win in February.The contract...
MOSCOW—The Norwegian Telenor is going to sell two of its Russian subsidiaries, and the second-biggest Russian carrier Vimpelcom, in which Telenor holds a major stake, is the most likely buyer.Telenor is planning to sell its 49-percent stakes in Extel from the Baltic enclave of...
MOSCOW—The second-biggest Russian carrier Vimpelcom (BeeLine) placed its first euro bonds worth US$250 million to finance network expansion across Russia.Vimpelcom Vice President Valery Goldin said the bonds will mature in three years, and the coupon yield of 10.45 percent annual will be paid twice...