| Uzbek regulators will not permit Telecom – an Uzbek-U.S. joint venture operating a CDMA network under the SkyTel brand – to resume operations in Tashkent, a source at the Uzbek Communications and IT Agency said.
Negotiations with the company have been stopped, the source said. The deputy head of the State Radio Frequencies Commission, Mairam Kholmuratova confirmed this information, saying it was not possible to grant the company new frequencies in the 450 MHz bandwidth as it is already overloaded.
Telecom's only remaining option is to move the base stations installed in Tashkent to other regions of the country. The SkyTel network in other regions of Uzbekistan continues to operate as usual. Telecom shut down operations in Tashkent in early February on the order of regulators.
The Electromagnetic Compatibility Centre (ECC) did not provide the company with a permit to operate the network indefinitely because the venture was creating interference for government users, including security agencies working in the same bandwidth.
Telecom was set up by NCI Projects International of the United States and national operator Uzbektelecom, which own 70% and 30% of the company respectively.
Source: Asia Pulse |