Vimpelcom Vietnam gets mobile license, spectrum 

Russian fixed-to-mobile telecom company Vimpelcom said Wednesday its Vietnamese mobile joint venture, GTEL-Mobile, had been assigned a GSM license and frequencies.

“Now, with all the procedural issues solved, we can focus all our efforts on the network rollout and the preparation of commercial launch,” Vimpelcom Chief Executive Officer Alexander Izosimov said in a statement.

Vimpelcom signed an agreement to set up the venture in July this year and is paying US$267 million for a 40 percent stake in the venture.

Its partners are two of Vietnam’s state-owned companies. Under the agreement, they contribute the mobile license that has now been issued.

Vimpelcom, in which Norway’s Telenor and Russia’s Alfa Group have large stakes, said earlier it was aiming for a 15 to 20 percent share of the Vietnamese mobile calls market within five years, or around 20 million subscribers.

GTEL-Mobile is scheduled to launch commercial services in the middle of next year.

Thanhnien

>   Hanoi – attractive destination for Malaysian investors (26/09/2008)

>   High-salaried markets a tough nut for Vietnamese to crack (26/09/2008)

>   Districts warned against delays in handing over land to investor (26/09/2008)

>   Hanoi’s airport planned for civil use (26/09/2008)

>   Vietnam attracts over 57 billion USD in nine months (26/09/2008)

>   Nation starts building largest petrochemical complex (26/09/2008)

>   Work begins on Hai Phong’s largest foreign-invested resort (26/09/2008)

>   Vietnam in top ten of Global Development Fair finals (26/09/2008)

>   Gov’t moves to stimulate FDI flow into transport (26/09/2008)

>   Toy industry in limbo (26/09/2008)