Tag Archives: telecoms

Uzbekistan suspends MTS’s licence

JULY 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Uzbekistan formally accused Russian mobile provider MTS of violating the terms of its contract and suspended its operating licence for 10 days.

MTS, which is listed on New York’s stock exchange and operates under the Uzdunrobita brand, denies any wrong-doing and has accused the Uzbek government of trying to steal the company.

The case against MTS appears to boil down to not paying enough taxes. Earlier this month, police in Tashkent arrested a handful of senior Uzdunrobita executives, although the Uzdunrobita CEO had already fled to Moscow, and accused them of tax evasion.

Uzdunrobita is small-fry for MTS. It may have 9.5m subscribers in Uzbekistan but its revenues account for just 3.5% of MTS’s total turnover.

For both sides the row, which has been played since the end of June, is negative publicity.

This is the second time in 18 months that MTS has lost an operating licence in Central Asia. Last January, the Turkmen authorities scrapped a licence and although it has manoeuvred itself into a position to resume operations, MTS is still currently frozen out of Turkmenistan.

Either MTS has become careless or it’s being bullied. For Uzbekistan, whether it has a strong case or not, the row worsens its already tarnished business image.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 097, published on July 20 2012)

MTS pulls out of Uzbekistan

JULY 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian mobile operator MTS temporarily shut down some of its operations in Uzbekistan after the authorities accused it of tax evasion, media reported. MTS, which has 9m subscribers in Uzbekistan, says the accusations are untrue and that the authorities are trying to pressure it into relinquishing control of the company.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 096, published on July 13 2012)

Uzbek authorities detain MTS’s officials

JULY 6 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek police detained several senior officials at the local unit of Russian mobile operator MTS for allegedly not paying enough tax, the company said in a statement. MTS denied the charges and said the investigation may force it to close its operations in Uzbekistan where it has 9m subscribers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 095, published on July 6 2012)

Uzbek authorities warn Russian telecoms

JUNE 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek authorities warned Russian mobile telecoms provider MTS it may revoke its licence. They said MTS, which has around 9.5m subscribers in Uzbekistan, was providing deteriorating quality and illegally using base stations. Foreign businesses have previously accused the Uzbek government of taking over successful companies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 094, published on June 29 2012)

MTS returns to Turkmenistan

MAY 3 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Bringing an end to an 18-month long dispute that soured relations between Turkmenistan and Russia, the chairman of Russian mobile operator MTS, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, announced on Turkmen TV that a deal had been made to allow it back into the country. MTS had been the biggest mobile operator in Turkmenistan before it lost its licence in Dec. 2010.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 086, published on May 4 2012)

SIM card market opens up in Turkmenistan

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AUG. 2 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Turkmen authorities relaxed rules on who can buy new SIM cards for mobile phones, triggering massive queues outside shops of the state-owned mobile operator Altyn Asyr, AP reported. In December, Turkmenistan declined to renew a contract with Russian mobile provider MTS, which had serviced 80% of the market, leaving thousands of frustrated mobile users without coverage.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 51, published on Aug. 2 2011)

Azerbaijan ready to award new 3G licences

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JULY 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan will award two more 3G licences within the next few days, websites quoted the Communications Minister as saying. Local mobile operators Bakcell and Azercell are likely to win the licences, reports said. Currently only Azerfon holds a 3G licence.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 49, published on July 20 2011)

Corruption scandal swirls around Kyrgyz government

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APRIL 18 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – A corruption scandal over the privatisation in 2008 of Kyrgyz mobile operator MegaCom and its part re-nationalisation last year is testing the survival skills of Kyrgyzstan’s fragile government coalition.

On March 31, President Roza Otunbayeva sacked Prosecutor-General Kubatbek Baibolov for his links to the scandal. But Mr Baibolov didn’t go quietly and he accused first deputy PM Omurbek Babanov of corruption.

Mr Babanov is head of the Respublika party, one of three partners in a precarious coalition cobbled together at the end of 2010. On April 13, Mr Babanov quit the government while a parliamentary committee investigated the allegations.

For now, his resignation appears to have prevented a split in the coalition but tempers are fraying and a few days before his resignation a fight broke out in parliament.

Corruption is widespread in Kyrgyzstan — ranked by the Berlin-based lobby group Transparency International at 164 out of 178 in its 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index — but the country desperately needs a stable 2011 after a difficult 2010.

Kyrgyzstan hosts both a Russian and US air base and is trying to attract foreign investors, particularly to its mining sector, but in 2010 a revolution, ethnic violence and a new Constitution which shifted power to parliament from the president all underlined its fragility.

Now rampant poverty amplified by soaring inflation and frustration at official corruption are stirring unease once again.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 36, published on April 18 2011)

Turkmens frustrated by MTS contract termination

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APRIL 4 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Frustration is growing among thousands of people in Turkmenistan without mobile phone access since the government cancelled a service agreement with Russia’s MTS in December, said the Initiative of Turkmen Human Rights. Altyn Asyr, now the only Turkmen mobile phone operator, has had to cope with a 400% jump in demand.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)

Turkmenistan’s mobile sector frustrates people

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APRIL 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The patience of Turkmenistan’s estimated 3.1m mobile phone subscribers is wearing thin. Services have been heavily disrupted since the Turkmen government terminated a contract with Russia’s biggest mobile phone operator MTS.

Under the agreement, MTS had serviced around 80% of Turkmen’s mobile phone market. When it rescinded the deal, the Turkmen ministry of communications said MTS had broken the terms of the contract which had also expired. MTS said the government just wanted the lucrative contract.

That all happened in December. Since then it appears Altyn Asyr, the trading name for Turkmen mobile phone provider TM-Cell, has struggled to meet demand. Even President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has become frustrated. In March, according to media reports, he called Altyn Asyr “bungling”.

Mobile phones are essential in Turkmenistan where fixed lines are unreliable and decrepit.

On April 4, the Initiative of Turkmen Human Rights reported how hundreds of people queued for hours outside an Altyn Asyr shop which promised to sell SIM cards. Instead they were only able to buy a voucher which could be swapped for a SIM card next month when new supplies arrive.

This report could not be independently corroborated but 3 days later news reports said the Turkmen government had signed a deal with equipment makers Nokia Siemens Networks and China’s Huawei Technologies to help improve services. The saga continues.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 35, published on April 11 2011)