DUSHANBE, March 5, Asia-Plus – The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) and open joint-stock-company (OJSC) Tajik Telecom,
Tajikistan’s national fixed-line operator, have opposed rebranding of
MLT/TT Mobile, a closed joint-stock company (CJSC) and one of Tajikistan’s largest cellular operators.
Deputy Transport and Communications Minister, Beg Zuhurov, said in an interview with Asia-Plus that Tajik Telecom, which assumes the 49% ownership interest in MLT/TT Mobile, had not been notified of rebranding of the company and had not participated in making such decision. “The company has not right to make any serious decision without coordination of the issue with shareholders,” the deputy minister said.
According to him, a delegation of Tajik Telecom led by its director general Rahmonali Hasanov is currently in Moscow to negotiate the issue with Sergey Soldatenkov, director general of Russia’s cellular operator MegaFon, which owns 75 percent of the shares.
According to Zuhurov, the Tajik side suggests that the company’s brand should be replaced because it may come to $600,000. “The Tajik side will have to invest approximately $150,000, which is unreal for the Tajik company,” Zuhurov said.
We will recall MLT/TT Mobile announced rebranding of the company on March 1. The company’s original brand MLT has been replaced with the brand of Russia’s MegaFon.
The process was done on March 1. A meeting of the board of directors of MegaFon on this subject was held in Moscow in late January.
MLT/TT Mobile covers all four provinces of Tajikistan, operating in 40 cities and districts. The company currently has 200,000th clients.
MLT/TT Mobile is a joint venture between the Russian cellular operator MegaFon and Tajikistan’s national fixed-line operator, Tajik Telecom. MegaFon owns 75 percent of the shares and Tajik Telecom holds a 25 percent interest in MLT/TT-Mobile.
MegaFon, an open joint stock company, was founded in May 2002 with the renaming and reorganization of the Russian cellular operator North-West GSM.
MLT/TT Mobile was the first cellular operator in Tajikistan to offer its clients the 3G standard in 2005.
