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Russia: Telco minister sees the light in possible wireless merger

By  |  November 18, 2013

The head of Russia’s telecommunications market said in an interview late last week that results from the proposed merger between Rostelecom’s mobile unit with Tele2 would be positive and benefit market competition.

Reports say telco minister Nokolay Nikiforov sees “some synergy” in the merger, which would add a new competitor to the nation’s top three dominators.

According to Nikiforov, four or five competitors would be ideal for the market.

State-owned Rostelecom submitted the proposal to separate its mobile operations into its own entity for a shareholder vote, according to a filing. The new company could be named RT-Mobile. The company’s board is scheduled to meet today to discuss possible acquisitions of minorities that would not approve of the formation of RT-Mobile, say reports.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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