Tag Archives: telecoms

Telenor worries in Uzbekistan

NOV. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Norway’s government summoned the head of Telenor, the telecoms company in which it owns a 54% stake, to explain newspaper reports which have alleged that VimpelCom, a part-owned subsidiary, paid bribes in Uzbekistan to win business, Bloomberg reported.

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(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Korea invests in Uzbekistan’s 4G

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Through its subsidiary Super iMAX, Korea Telecom will launch a 4G technology in Uzbekistan in 2015, media reported. South Korea is one of the biggest investors in Uzbekistan. The 4G service will be available in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

MTS returning to Uzbekistan

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile provider MTS is testing equipment ahead of its re-entry into Uzbekistan, media reported. MTS, which is owned by Russia’s Sistema, quit Uzbekistan after a major row with the authorities in 2012 over alleged unpaid tax bills. It since appears to have made up and has agreed to return to the country.

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(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

MTS to set up 3G in Turkmenistan

SEPT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile operator MTS said it wants to invest $40m over the next year in setting up 3G mobile services in Turkmenistan. MTS is one of the biggest mobile operators in Central Asia and, as reported, has also recently patched up its differences with Uzbekistan.

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(News report from Issue No. 202, published on Oct. 1 2014)

MTS to restart work in Uzbekistan in 2014

JULY 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has given a green light for Russian mobile operator MTS to re-start work in the country after it withdrew following a row in 2012, various local media reported quoting security forces. Media said that MTS would resume operations in Uzbekistan by the end of 2012.

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(News report from Issue No. 192, published on July 9 2014)

MTS plotting return to Uzbekistan

MAY 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – MTS, the Russian mobile operator, is planning a return to Uzbekistan, two years after it quit the country after a major row with the authorities.

Vladimir Evtushenkov, the Russian billionaire whose company Sistema owns the majority state in MTS, told reporters at the St Petersburg Economic Forum that the company may re-enter Uzbekistan as early as this year.

Given MTS’s acrimonious exit from Uzbekistan, after a row over unpaid tax, Mr Evtushenkov’s statement took people by surprise.

Through its local subsidiary, MTS had been the biggest mobile provider in Uzbekistan. Its abrupt exit in 2012 had cost it 9m subscribers and losses of $1b.

But it’s a positive surprise that MTS is seriously considering a return to Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan is the single biggest market in Central Asia, with a population of 30m, and should be a natural country of operations for a Russian mobile company.

Of course, though, as with everything in Uzbekistan, MTS’s re-entry is possibly layered with extra meaning. It may not be a coincidence that it is considering a return to Uzbekistan just as Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek leader Islam Karimov, appears to have suffered a serious setback to her power and influence.

When MTS did clash with the Uzbek authorities in 2012, the rumour mill was full of stories that the company had fallen out with Ms Karimova. That problem may now have been solved, allowing MTS to patch up its differences with the Uzbek authorities.

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(News report from Issue No. 186, published on May 28 2014)

Kazakhstan’s Kcell fears TeliaSonera verdict

APRIL 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A bribery investigation at Swedish- Finnish telecoms company TeliaSonera appeared to widen from Uzbekistan, its initial focus, to other companies it owns in Central Asia and the South Caucasus after it said some other business deals may have been illegal. TeliaSonera owns Kcell, Kazakhstan’s largest mobile provider.

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(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)

Azerbaijan invests into internet infrastructure

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan plans to invest about $500m into its broadband infrastructure over the next few years, media reported quoting the Azerbaijani minister for communications Ali Abbasov. It remains to be seen if Azerbaijan will follow through on this proclamation.

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

New Uzbek mobile operator speeds up entry

MARCH 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — UzMobile, the new mobile operator in Uzbekistan run by Uzbektelecom, will be exempt from paying licence fees for five years, local media reported quoting the government. The Uzbek government is keen to set up its own mobile company after foreign companies working in the sector ran into various regulatory problems.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

US probe into Uzbekistan-linked companies

MARCH 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan is fast becoming a pariah state for businesses.

The US authorities opened corruption investigations into business conducted by Russia’s Vimpelom and Swedish-Finnish TeliaSonera in Uzbekistan, shortly after Swiss authorities announced they were looking into money laundering allegations against Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek president Isam Karimov.

It’s not a pretty picture. Vimpelcom and TeliaSonera also have registered offices in the Netherlands, where the authorities have also launched investigations.

The trigger for these problems was a $330m deal that TeliaSonera struck with Gibraltar-registered Takilant to buy a 3G licence in 2007. Takilant was officially owned by Gayane Avakyan, an associate of Ms Karimova.

A Swedish investigation has been looking into whether this payment was actually a bribe to the Karimov family. Mr Karimov and his family have run Uzbekistan as their personal fiefdom since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. They may also have had personal stakes in Uzbekistan’s big businesses.

(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)