BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/05/2008

Belarus to sell 3G licence in H2 '08

MINSK, May 26 (Reuters) - Belarus is planning its first ever tender for a third generation licence in the second half of this year," state news agency BelTA reported on Monday, citing the information minister. "We are planning to hold a tender in the second half of the year," Information Minister Nikolai Pantelei was cited by BelTA as saying. "It all depends on how many operators will meet the conditions that the government will set."

He did not give any details of the cost of the licence nor conditions. The government had first talked about selling a licence a year ago, saying that there would be no discrimination between market players.

Belarus' MTS, 49 percent owned by Russia's MTS (MBT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and 51 percent owned by the state, had expressed interest before in gaining the licence. Also in the market is Velcom, owned by Telekom Austria (TELA.VI: Quote, Profile, Research).

Turkey's Turkcell TCELL.IS may also enter the Belarussian market after expressing interest in buying a controlling stake in another Belarussian operator, BeST, which the government wants to sell at no less than $500 million. (Reporting by Andrey Makhovsky, Writing by Sabina Zawadzki; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Source:

http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINL2610780820080526

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