Rostelecom mulls acquisition of CIS telecom assets
GENEVA. Oct 26 (Interfax) - Russian fixed-line telecom provider Rostelecom is looking into acquiring assets in the CIS, Alexander Provotorov, the company's president, told the press, at the ITU Telecom World Event in Geneva.
The company is considering both main operators, which would enable it to expand its international traffic transit capabilities, and mobile phone operators.
Rostelecom is in talks about buying one or two mobile phone operators in Central Asia, Provotorov said. He did not name the companies but said the talks concerned relatively small deals.
The company is also looking at documentation for the auction offering the 51% government stake in MTS Belarus, which Belarus hopes to obtain $1 billion for. However, Rostelecom has no plans to buy this asset, he said.
Rostelecom is not interested in the Ukrtelecom 3G business up for sale. "Developing third generation cellular business without an established second generation network and supporting transport networks does not have potential," Provotorov said.
