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Technologies 08/06/2007 Uzbek mobile operator can loose license - report

The US Company MCT Corp. can be eventually forced out of the Uzbek telecommunication market. Its mobile operator Coscom can loose its license because of insufficient investment. Analysts believe certain political reasons explain the pressure on the US Company, CNews reported.

CNews found out the licensing of the Uzbec GSM mobile operator Coscom had been suspended recently for the second time. "Insufficient capital investment on the part of the operator resulted in serious network overload and faulty operations. The increase in the number of subscribers in the republic in the nearest future can absolutely disable Coscom network, - the Uzbek Information and Telecommunication Agency says. – Insufficient investment into operations can become the legal ground for suspense and even recall of Coscom license".

The Uzbek Information and Telecommunication Agency measures against Coscom are unexampled. For example, the mobile operators Buztel and Uzmacom had been operating in the Uzbek market for a long time, although they had been servicing only several thousands of subscribers and did not cover the whole Tashkent territory. However, they did not have any claims on the part of the regulator. But the Uzbek Information and Telecommunication Agency pays close attention to Coscom. Thus, in February of the current year Coscom did not provide all the services. First, as a penalty for faulty operations within 10 days Coscom license was suspended. Then the state company Uzbektelecom refused to prolong the lease of the communication channels.

So, analysts believe the aim of ceaseless claims to Coscom is to put pressure on the US Company MCT, which holds 85% of Coscom shares. "One of the reasons for putting pressure on the company is politics, - Eldar Ataev, the Kazakh analyst thinks. – As the relations between the US and Uzbekistan are rather tense the authorities will try to neutralize MCT activities in the republic". Aggravation of relations between the US and Uzbekistan started in 2005 when the opposition demonstration in Andizan was broken up.

The other version, supported by analysts, is connected with Coscom sale initiated last year by MCT. After the February cessations Coscom has lost 15% of subscriber (400,000), according to the official data. Real losses can be much higher. Because of the reputation strike the market cost of the company can have decreased two-three times. The Russian operator MegaFon in considered the most possible buyer, whose competitors VimpelCom and MTS already operate in Uzbekistan.

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