In Defense Ministry, they don’t bother to conceal that the operators were offered 3G in return for abandoning claims for 1800 MHz.
Photo: Sergey Mikheev
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Defense Ministry Maintains Air Standing
At the yesterday’s sitting of the State Commission on Radio Frequency, the Defense Ministry sacrificed the 3G frequencies, but put a veto on allocating additional frequencies for GSM-1800 nets. The analysts say the delay is most painful for VimpelCom and Tele2, which haven’t completed the regional expansion yet.
The key result of the yesterday’s sitting of the State Commission on Radio Frequency was that no additional radio frequencies were ultimately provided to cellular operators for developing GSM-1800 nets in 40 regions of Russia. The achievement of the meeting was the go-ahead for constructing 3G cellular nets and holding contests for their distribution.
So, the Federal Communication Agency (Rossvyaz) will put up for sale the 3G frequencies of 1935 MHz to 1980 MHz, 2010 MHz to 2025 MHz and 2125 MHz to 2170 MHz in the following 45 days. Rossvyaz has declined to comment on tender provisions, saying they are yet to be developed.
But the top-rank bureaucrats of communication industry have shed light on the terms. The frequencies will be distributed between three or four bidders for all Russia at once. The decision won’t be based on the tenders, as it happened in Europe in late 1990’s. Instead, the authorities will hold the so-called beauty contests, when the project parameters are evaluated by a commission.
But the most vital and much bitter news for the market was the veto of military on allocating additional 1800 MHz for around 40 regions of Russia, including in the Far East, Eastern Siberia, Povolzhie and southern Russia. The negative decision could be blamed on Defense Ministry, which challenged allocation of both the GSM frequencies and 3G from the very beginning. In Defense Ministry, they don’t bother to conceal that operators were offered 3G in return for abandoning the 1800-MHz claims.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 24, 2006
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