AUG. 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s VimpelCom booked an 88% increase in profits from its Uzbek subsidiary for the year to the end-July because of the closure of its rival, the MTS-owned Uzdunrobita, media reported. VimpelCom has increased subscribers in Uzbekistan by 45% to 10m since Uzdunrobita closed a year ago for tax infringements.
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(News report from Issue No. 147, published on Aug. 12 2013)
JULY 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kcell, the largest mobile phone operator in Kazakhstan, posted higher revenues in the first half of the year compared to a year earlier but slightly lower profit. Revenue for Kcell, a subsidiary of Swedish telecoms giant TeliaSonera, rose just over 4% to about $580m highlighting growth in the Kazakh mobile market.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Two of the key core strengths of Britain’s Virgin Group and its founder Sir Richard Branson are self-publicity and business acumen. It may be bringing both of these strengths to the Kazakh telecoms market.
Virgin Group spans a handful of sectors including trains, aviation, banking, travel, health clubs and telecoms. In 2011, according to its website, Virgin Group employed 50,000 people across the world and earned revenues of about $21b.
Perhaps its biggest assets, though, are the Virgin brand and a sense of flair. Sir Richard set up Virgin in 1970 and its slanted, hand-written logo is now recognisable around the world.
Virgin Mobile Central and Eastern Europe was one of the British companies that signed deals with Kazakh businesses during a trip to Kazakhstan by British PM David Cameron earlier this month.
Launched in 2012, Virgin Mobile Central and Eastern Europe is currently only offering a mobile phone service in Poland. This, though, could change.
It may just have been a so-called memorandum of understanding with Kazakh Telecom but this is still significant as it could mean a Virgin branded broadband and telecoms business offering services to people in Kazakhstan. As an indication of Kazakhstan’s development, Virgin’s potential entry is interesting and, possibly, significant.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JUNE 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — For Western companies, Uzbekistan’s image as a place to do business is at a low ebb. The rule of law in Uzbekistan is considered weak and corruption widespread. India and China, though, have been celebrating some recent successes.
China has been grabbing headlines with large-scale initiatives often thrashed out at government level but Indian companies have also, often more quietly, been making headway.
One of the more eye-catching announcements was that a joint-venture between OliveTelecom, an Indian mobile technology manufacturer, and UzTelecom had started production of its Android tablet near the city of Navoi in central Uzbekistan.
A factory in one of the Uzbek government’s economic free zones, a low tax area for foreign investors, is making the OlivePadV-T300 Tablet PC. The tablet will be sold within Uzbekistan only and retail at 350,000 som (roughly $160).
Production of the OliveTelecom tablet shows that foreign investors can, potentially, operate in Uzbekistan and also that the Uzbek labour market is capable of producing hi-tech gadgets.
Neighbouring Kazakhstan has long said it wants to diversify its economic base away from heavy industry and the energy sector. It can now look to Uzbekistan for advice.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Uzbek government announced that Russian mobile operator MTS was selling its assets in Uzbekistan for roughly $300m, media reported. Last year the Uzbek government accused MTS’s local subsidiary Uzdunrobita of tax dodging and suspended its operations. MTS said the allegations were false.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)
MAY 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish telecoms giant TeliaSonera has replaced the CEO of Kcell, its Kazakh subsidiary.
Ali Agan will replace Veysel Aral, who has moved to head TeliaSonera’s Eurasia business division, as CEO. Mr Agan immediately said he wanted to develop 4G coverage in Kazakhstan, a strategy backed up later by the TeliaSonera CEO.
Kcell is the biggest mobile operator in Kazakhstan with 13.5m subscribers, a market share of 45%.
Mr Agan is a TeliaSonera insider. He has headed up TeliaSonera’s Uzbek unit, Ucell, since September last year and before that had been CEO of Azercell, the Azerbaijani unit.
TeliaSonera has been caught up in a corruption investigation in Uzbekistan since last year, focused on indirectly paying Uzbek officials for a 3G licence. The focus of the investigation does not include Mr Agan.
The day after announcing the new head of Kcell, Reuters reported that the CEO of TeliaSonera, Per-Arne Blomquist, told Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev how the company planned to roll out 4G coverage.
So far only Kazakhtelecom, the state-owned fixed line monopoly, has opened a 4G network in Kazakhstan. It opened the service in Astana and Almaty last year for its mobile brand Altel, the smallest Kazakh mobile operator.
Mr Blomquist said TeliaSonera had invested $2b into infrastructure in Kazakhstan in the past 15 years.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 22 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swedish TV aired fresh documents appearing to show more evidence that telecoms giant TeliaSonera paid Gulnara Karimova, the all-powerful eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, to win a 3G licence in Uzbekistan. TeliaSonera is the subject of a Swedish investigation into corruption allegations.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
APRIL 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh mobile operator Kcell, controlled by Sweden’s TeliaSonera, said it had added 310,000 subscribers in Q1 2013, suggesting that Kazakhstan’s economy is still buoyant. At the end of March, Kcell said it had 13.8m subscribers and was the biggest mobile phone network in Kazakhstan.
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(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)
MARCH 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Swedish investigators said they may consider fining or confiscating assets from the part state-owned telecoms operator Teliasonera if criminal charges stick over an investigation into whether the company illegally paid bribes to a Gibraltar-registered firm in 2007/8 for 3G licences in Uzbekistan, media reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 129, published on March 29 2013)
FEB. 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Lars Nyberg, CEO of TeliaSonera, resigned after a report by a law firm concluded the Swedish telecoms giant had failed to do proper due diligence before buying an Uzbek 4G licence from a Gibraltar-registered firm in 2007. Media reports have since linked the Gibraltar firm to the eldest daughter of the Uzbek president.
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(News report from Issue No. 123, published on Feb. 8 2013)