ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—The third-biggest Russian carrier, St. Petersburg-based North-Western GSM, launched a GSM 900/1800 MHz network in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan in the last days of 2001.
The network, which so far covers the capital of Dushanbe, is run by the Russian-Tajik joint venture TT Mobile, in which North-Western GSM has a 75-percent stake. The joint venture was created in August 2001 and received a license in September. It initially planned the launch for February 2002.
“Our company has become the first Russian carrier to offer services abroad,” said North-Western GSM Director General Igor Nikodimov.
Tajikistan is one of the poorest former Soviet republics, and there are only hundreds of wireless handset users in the country. But Nikodimov said, “we plan to radically change the situation in 2002 and to receive over 1,500 subscribers.”
The biggest Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) is to become the second carrier to launch a GSM network abroad. Last year the carrier won a license in the former Soviet republic of Belarus, and the launch is scheduled for April 2002.
