MobileMonday Global

^{Military, space agency giving up bandwidth} Russia to auction GSM frequencies

Russia’s State Radio Frequency Commission has decided to hold tenders for frequencies for GSM mobile services in 46 Russian regions, a spokesperson with the commission said, according to a in the Kommersant business daily.

The tenders are to be announced within six months.

Some of the frequencies that are to be offered at tenders are currently used by military and space agencies, the daily reported.

Kommersant reported also that MTS was primarily interested in frequencies in the Penza Region and the constituent republic of Chechnya, which are the only two of Russia’s 86 regions that are not covered by the company’s network.

VimpelCom plans to bid for frequencies in regions of the Far East Federal District, which it had been seeking to get for several years.

MegaFon, the only Russian operator with a country-wide license portfolio, has not yet decided if it would bid for frequencies.

Russia’s three largest mobile operators - MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon - control about 85 percent of the Russia mobile market.

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