Eight operators have applied to Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor to participate in the upcoming LTE spectrum auction.
Russia’s three largest operators Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), MegaFon and VimpelCom, state-controlled Rostelecom, smaller…
Eight operators have applied to Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor to participate in the upcoming LTE spectrum auction.
Russia’s three largest operators Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), MegaFon and VimpelCom, state-controlled Rostelecom, smaller operators Summa Telecom and TransTelecom and two subsidiaries of Sweden-based telecoms group Tele2 – Tele2 Voronezh and Tele2 Omsk – have all submitted bids, Roskomnadzor announced.
The State Commission for Radio Frequencies is set to announce the results of the tender for four lots of spectrum in the 791-862MHz range on 12 July. Winners will each be allocated two 7.5MHz blocks within the range as well as frequencies at 2.5-2.69 MHz, 720-750 MHz, and 761-791 MHz.
Licences will take effect in 2013 and licensees must complete their network rollouts by 2019 and offer services in all towns and cities with populations of 50,000 or more.
Launching the tender process in early May, Roskomnadzor emphasised an intention to avoid monopolisation in the wireless market, stating it would award extra points to bidders prepared to work with MVNOs.
Scartel, which operates under the brand name Yota, recently launched its own LTE network. In 2011, the company signed an agreement with MTS, MegaFon and Vimpelcom allowing them to offer 4G services over the planned network.
Russian media reports have stated Russia’s antitrust authority, the FAS, is waiting to learn the outcome of the auction before deciding whether or not to approve a merger between Scartel and MegaFon under a new holding company.
Earlier Russian reports said Alisher Usmanov, MegaFon’s new controlling shareholder, would own more than 80% of the new holding company which, in turn, would own Usmanov’s 50%-plus-one-share stake in MegaFon and all Scartel shares.
