Kazakhstan's Kazakhtelecom completes sale of subsidiary to Qatari investor

ASTANA. Jan 14 (Interfax) - JSC Kazakhtelecom has completed the sale of Mobile Telecom Service LLP (the Tele2/Altel brands) to Qatari Power International Holding (PIH), the company said in a press release.

The completion of this deal represents the fulfilment of the Kazakh president's order to demonopolize the mobile market, Kazakhtelecom Board Chairman Bagdat Musin said in a statement issued by the press service.

"As a result of this deal, today three mobile operators [Tele2/ALTEL, Kcell and Beeline] operating in Kazakhstan will be separated from each other to form a competitive market among mobile operators. This will have an impact on an improvement in quality and the establishment of a fair price for the services provided," Musin said.

As previously reported, the value of the deal according to the Kazakh Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Ministry was $1.1 billion.

Kazakhtelecom, the Samruk-Kazyna fund (Kazakhtelecom's main shareholder) and PIH signed an agreement on cooperation in February 2024 which assumed the purchase and sale of Mobile Telecom Service LLP.

Discussions about the need to remove one of the two telecom operators (the second being Kcell) from the structure of Kazakhtelecom have been ongoing for a long time. Former Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Minister Musin said that the process would be completed by the end of 2023. However, he later said that the procedure would be delayed by a year and carried out in 2024.

Kazakhtelecom holds a dominant position in the local telecommunications market. The company owns 51% of the shares of mobile operator Kcell.

Mobile Telecom Service LLP is a high-speed 5G communications provider in Kazakhstan, which was established in 2004. The company has approximately 2,000 employees and operates more than 140 retail outlets.