Altimo enters Kyrgyzstan’s mobile phone market
29 Jun 2006

Altimo is pleased to announce that it has bought 100% of Sky Mobile, the provider of GSM-standard services throughout the Kyrgyz Republic, from KATEL, the Kyrgyz cellular operator which provides TDMA and CDMA services in the region. 

Kirill Babaev, Altimo vice-president, said: “We view Central Asian countries as key target markets for Altimo’s expansion. We consider Kyrgyzstan to be one of the most exciting mobile markets in the region and are keen to establish Sky Mobile as the country’s third GSM-standard operator. We are currently working on our investment program for building the network throughout the republic.  

The mobile penetration rate in Kirgizia is 14%. There are currently two GSM mobile operators on the market.

Altimo

Altimo, a leading private equity group, operating on some of the world's most desirable and potentially lucrative mobile telecommunications markets, was created in 2005 from Alfa Telecom, which itself was established in 2004 to hold the telecoms investments of the Alfa Group Consortium (Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., MegaFon and VimpelCom Ltd. (provides services under the "Beeline" and "Kyivstar" brands)). Those assets are in Russia, the CIS and other promising emerging markets.

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