Sibirtelecom 1H net profit up by 187%
Sibirtelecom, a regional telecommunications and Internet service provider in Siberia, has declared a net profit of US$79.6 million representing a raise of 187.2% from last year.
According to the company, the improvement in net profit is the result of a better operating profit, which grew 29.5% to US$139.985 million, compared to US$107.905 million a year earlier. EBITDA rise 16.8% year-on-year to US$ 262.4724 million, even as the revenues increased 2.4%.
In operational terms, fixed line revenues generated US$ 202.52500 million, a 6.8% rise compared to 1H2009. Wireless revenues increased 0.1%. The company also credited its improved consolidated revenues to increasing broadband subscriber numbers, which reached 692,000 at 30 June 2010.
Sibirtelecom completes DWDM roll out (Siberia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The roll out of Digital Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology in Omsk, Novosibirsk and Novokuznetsk has been completed by Svyazinvest-owned regional operator Sibirtelecom.
By investing RUB111 million (USD3.76 million), the operator constructed a 161km of fibre-optic network. The entire work out is aimed at expanding network capacity and bandwidth availability.
The network had a data transmission capacity of 10Gbps and now it has gone up to 40Gbps after the upgrades. Russian vendor T8′s equipment has been used by Sibirtelecom for the network rollout.
Russian telco Svyazinvest aims for IPO in April 2011
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The structural reorganization of Russia’s state-run telecoms conglomerate Svyazinvest is scheduled to be completed by April 2011. The company also hopes to hold an initial public offering (IPO) to offload around 25% of the company.
Currently, Svyazinvest is combining long-distance operator Rostelecom with its seven ‘mega-regional’ operators to create a single, national network. The seven operators include Center Telecom, North-West Telecom, Volga Telecom, South Telecom, Uralsvyazinform, Siberia Telecom (Sibirtelecom) and Far East Telecom (Dalnevostochnaya)
Svyazinvest mulls wireless sale
Russia’s state-backed telecoms holding group Svyazinvest is considering the sale of its mobile assets, although the move is likely to be blocked by some shareholders. A report from Cnews quotes Svyazinvest director general Alexander Kiselev, who says: ‘Not having a licence for the 3G mobile network, our mobile assets have no prospects in the market; that is why they should be sold.’ He believes that the peak market value will be reached within the next eighteen months, with analysts estimating the combined sale price at between USD1.5 billion and USD3 billion.
Svyazinvest is Russia’s largest fixed line operator, offering services via seven mega-regional subsidiaries plus long-distance arm Rostelecom. Four of the regional operators Volgatelecom, Sibirtelecom, Uralsvyazinform and Dalsvyaz also provide GSM cellular services, although their combined subscriber base of just over ten million represents only around 6.5% of the total Russian mobile market. Local press reports claim the country’s second largest cellular operator by subscribers, Vimpelcom, is interested in acquiring the mobile assets of Dalsvyaz, while the Volga regional operator SMARTS is linked with the Volgatelecom GSM networks.
The move to sell off the cellular networks may run into opposition from other shareholders though. The Sistema group, whose 51% subsidiary Comstar UTS holds a blocking stake of 25% plus one share in Svyazinvest, has suggested that the mobile assets should be merged into a single operation which can then enlarge its footprint via wholesale network sharing deals or through spectrum acquisitions. Three firms have national 3G concessions in Russia Vimpelcom, MTS and MegaFon.
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