DUSHANBE, January 7, Asia-Plus — Lars Norberg, President of TeliaSonera, which is the leading telecommunications company in the Nordic and Baltic area and a new co-owner of Indigo-Tajikistan, is arriving on January 8.
As it had been reported earlier, TeliaSonera closed the acquisition of MCT Corp. for 1.8 billion on July 16, 2007. To expand its presence in the growing markets in Eurasia, TeliaSonera acquired 100 percent of the shares in MCT with shareholdings in four Eurasian GSM operators, Coscom in Uzbekistan, Indigo-Tajikistan and Somoncom in Tajikistan, and Roshan in Afghanistan. Coscom, Indigo-Tajikistan and Somoncom are consolidated as of July 1, 2007. TeliaSonera holds 12.25 percent in Roshan.
According to Indigo-Tajikistan’s headquarters in Dushanbe, during his visit Mr. Norberg intends to hold meetings with senior representatives from the ministries of economic development and trade as well as transport and communications and other Tajik telecommunications officials.
The aim of his visit is to get acquainted with the telecommunications situation and discuss cooperation issues.
Tomorrow, Mr. Norberg is scheduled to give a news conference on further plans of the company in Tajikistan.
TeliaSonera is controlling shareholder in Fintur Holdings B.V. TeliaSonera is the leading telecommunications company in the Nordic and Baltic region and also holds strong positions in mobile communications in Eurasia, Turkey and Russia.
MCT operated through four joint ventures serving Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan, providing cellular communications services in the GSM standard.
In Tajikistan, MCT Corp ran its business through Central Asia Telecommunications Development B.V (CATD), registered in the Netherlands. MCT owned 60 percent of the shares and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) assumes the 40 ownership interest in CATD.
CATD owns 100 percent of shares of closed joint-stock company Indigo-Tajikistan and 70 percent of shares of closed joint-stock company Somoncom (the remaining 30 percent of shares belong to local physical entities, including Somoncom’s management).
Indigo-Tajikistan launched service in July 2002 in the southern region of Tajikistan and is a leading operator in southern Tajikistan. In addition to the capital of Dushanbe, Indigo-Tajikistan provides coverage to all major population centers as well as to remote districts in Gorno Badakhshan region. Indigo-Tajikistan currently provides national and international automatic roaming, and other major value-added-services supported by advanced digital networks.
Somoncom launched service in 1999 in the northern region of Tajikistan as the first GSM operator in Tajikistan. Somoncom has the largest network coverage area in northern Tajikistan. Somoncom provides coverage to all major population centers, including the remote Panjakent district, as well as to mountainous areas along Tajikistan’s north-south highway. Somoncom currently provides national and international automatic roaming, and other major value-added-services supported by advanced digital networks, including GPRS-based services.
In Afghanistan, MCT owned 12.25 percent of shares the cellular operator Roshan. Roshan is backed by an international consortium formed by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) at 51%, Monaco Telecom International (MTI) at 36.75% and MCT Corp. at 12.25%.
