Russia’s Cellular Operators Lured Into Moldova
Moldova announced yesterday the bidding terms for the third GSM license, which starting price stands at $8 million. Moldova is the sole country in CIS where no big cellular player of Russia is represented, so the leading trio – MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon - is likely to fight for its market.
Moldova will grant the GSM license for 15 years with possible extension, the National Agency of Moldova announced yesterday. The starting price stands at $8 million; $4 million is to be paid within 30 days of the day of decision on license provision, while the remainder could be settled in two years by equal installments.
The tender will be held in two stages. The commission will begin by choosing bidders and proceed to discussing their projects. The bidders are to acquire tender documents for $5,000 by December 1 and submit applications by December 20.
Nowadays, Moldova has two GSM operators - Moldcell, which is 89-percent owned by Dutch Fintur Holding BV (holders are TeliaSonera and Turkcell), and Voxtel, where majority ownership belongs to France Telecom Mobile.
Moldova is one of the poorest states in Europe. But Russia’s cellular operators are aggressively conquering CIS markets now, taking keen interest in Moldova despite the low income of its nation, the analysts say. So far, MTS, VimpelCom or MegaFon haven’t officially confirmed bidding for the license. It is a matter of policy that the company makes a respective statement once its bid is accepted.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 16, 2006
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