BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/12/2005

Third GSM operator will launch on Wednesday

State-controlled mobile operator Belarus Telecommunications Network (BeST) has announced that it will launch the country's third GSM network on Wednesday, following the successful completion of trials begun in October. BeST was created by state-controlled fixed line monopoly Beltelecom, which holds a 25% stake in the venture, and state-owned company Agat, which controls the remainder. It was registered in November 2004 and received its mobile licence the following March. The newcomer aims to sign up between 500,000 and 600,000 subscribers by the end of 2006.

The Belarusian mobile market is growing at a rapid rate: the number of cellular users had reached 3.605 million by 1 October, up 48.4% from 2.43 million at the start of the year. BeST joins the country's three incumbent cellcos, Belarusian-Russian joint venture MTS Belarus, which leads the GSM market ahead of Mobile Digital Communications (MDC), and NMT-450i/IMT-MC-450 network operator BelCel, a Belarusian-British joint venture that was the first company to launch a mobile service in Belarus back in 1993.

Source:

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=10361&email=html