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Category: Operators

Satellite communications operators Iridium and Thuraya come back to Russia

By East-West Digital News / May 17, 2012 / 2 Comments

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 Digital News.

Iridium’s predecessor company, Iridium LLC, already operated in Russia in the 1990s before ceasing business around the world due to a bankruptcy.

Government-sponsored cloud platform offers software, infrastructure and development solutions

By Marchmont News, East-West Digital News / May 16, 2012

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 and PaaS, respectively).

Mobile penetration rate over 150% in Russia, market close to saturation

By East-West Digital News / May 08, 2012

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 1.6 million, 579,000, and 1,500 people respectively.

This recent evolution could be a sign of market saturation, AC&M analysts say.

iPhone sales finally grow – operators accused of overpricing conspiracy

By East-West Digital News, Marchmont News / May 04, 2012

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, MTS’s purchases of iPhones amounted to $65.4 million in 2008 and to $79.4 million in 2010 — but to just $3.4 million in 2009, due to the initial commercial failure of the smartphone.

Report: M&A in the Russian communications and media sector in 2011 and early 2012

By Vyacheslav Jaravine, KPMG / Apr 30, 2012 / 1 Comment

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 taking place than in previous years.

The top of the league table, as well as overall activity, is dominated by domestic activity, reflecting the current low appetite of foreign investors in relation to acquiring Russian assets.

VimpelCom calls off 3-year Vietnam safari

Special to East-West Digital News by Oleg Kouzbit in partnership with Marchmont News / Apr 30, 2012

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 Mobile and sanctioning a six-month transition period for the Vietnamese partner to discontinue use of the Beeline trademark.

Russian Post and Rostelecom judged “anti-brands of the year”

By East-West Digital News / Apr 27, 2012

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 be desired. Parcels can take months to be delivered, if they are delivered at all, and many will have something missing inside,” the NGO complains.

Megafon ownership shaken up, IPO planned for H2 2012

By East-West Digital News / Apr 23, 2012 / 1 Comment

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 billion from Gazprombank, and a syndicated loan of $2 billion from Western banks.

Scartel to focus on Russia, attempts to sell Belorussian subsidiary

By East-West Digital News / Apr 20, 2012 / 1 Comment

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 on foreign markets. This presumed new startegy was previously illustrated in December, when the Russian operator sold its stake in Yota Del Peru.

70 Russian regions connected to federal e-government system

Special to East-West Digital News by Oleg Kouzbit in partnership with Marchmont News / Apr 19, 2012

National telecom operator Rostelecom – 53.2% owned by the federal government – announced last week that 70 out of 83 Russian regions are now linked to its interdepartmental government communications system.

The buildout of the system marks a major milestone in this country’s progress towards e-government, a comprehensive IT-enabled cloud-based platform offered to the regions on an SaaS basis and designed to help the Russian government interact with populations and businesses while improving links between its own levels of command.

Category: Operators

Satellite communications operators Iridium and Thuraya come back to Russia

Government-sponsored cloud platform offers software, infrastructure and development solutions

Mobile penetration rate over 150% in Russia, market close to saturation

iPhone sales finally grow – operators accused of overpricing conspiracy

Report: M&A in the Russian communications and media sector in 2011 and early 2012

VimpelCom calls off 3-year Vietnam safari

Russian Post and Rostelecom judged “anti-brands of the year”

Megafon ownership shaken up, IPO planned for H2 2012

Scartel to focus on Russia, attempts to sell Belorussian subsidiary

70 Russian regions connected to federal e-government system

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