Russian state-owned telecoms operator Rostelecom is interested in partnering with satellite operators to bolster its offering across the country.
Speaking to local media at a press conference, Rostelecom president Sergey Kalugin said that in some…
Russian state-owned telecoms operator Rostelecom is interested in partnering with satellite operators to bolster its offering across the country.
Speaking to local media at a press conference, Rostelecom president Sergey Kalugin said that in some regions of Russia a satellite operator’s business could be considered as complimentary to Rostelecom’s core fixed line operations.
As such, the company has held discussions over the prospect of entering into a partnership with a satellite operator.
He declined to go into further details but Rostelecom’s investor relations department told SatelliteFinance “we are potentially interested in partnerships in this area and are discussing some options. That said, nothing is decided and agreed on.”
Rostelecom is Russia’s largest fixed line operator and has a presence throughout the vast country. It currently has 28 million local fixed-line voice subscribers, 9.6 million broadband subscribers and 6.9 million pay-TV customers.
The company also offers mobile services, with around 13.8 million subscribers, and in February signed a ‘framework agreement’ with Tele2 Russia to combine their mobile assets under a new joint venture, T2 Rus Holdings.
The company predominantly uses satellite services for the Eastern region of the country and has 11 land stations in Siberia and the Russian Far East. It also offers VSAT services via an agreement with Gilat.
The Russian state currently owns 43.07% of Rostelecom and recently hired Sberbank to manage the privatisation process of this stake. The bank is due to present the government with a report on its recommendations for the process this March, with a sale process expected to take place in the second half of 2014.
