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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jackmore who wrote (33804)	4/1/2003 4:43:39 PM
From: jackmore	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 196536

Russian cdma2000 nationwide carrier clash takes first toll April 01, 2003 1:53 PM EST MOSCOW-Russian telecom bosses clashed over who will lead the migration of NMT 450 MHz carriers into a single cdma2000 nationwide operator and the struggle resulted has already resulted in the first loser. Timur Khusainov, the head of the Moscow-based Gamma Group investment bank and chairman of the RTDC Holding, unexpectedly quit both posts citing "radical contradictions" with other shareholders as the reason. "Because of radical contradictions over the future strategy of business development, I can no longer govern the Gamma Group," Khusainov said but did not elaborate. There are three major holders of NMT assets in Russia. Svyazinvest, which has been recently allowed to keep its wireless assets, holds major stakes in 26 NMT carriers. The Accord-Tel Company, which is said to have been created by telecom bosses from St. Petersburg and which was the first to announce plans to unite NMT carriers into a nationwide cdma2000 operator, holds interest in 39 operators, while RTDC has an interest in three major NMT carriers-Delta Telecom, Moscow Cellular Communications (MCC) and Uralvestcom. The former has already launched a cdma2000 network, while the latter are to follow suit shortly. Khusainov always insisted that his RTDC Holding was to lead the unification of NMT 450 MHZ carriers and that Delta and MCC were to become the basis of the future nationwide cdma2000 operator. However his plans were rivaled by a recently created and scarcely known GROS Holding. In the absence of any official information, some experts believe the holding was set up by telecom bosses from St. Petersburg, while others insist it is an offspring of Svyazinvest that will manage its wireless assets. In January Khusainov promised to step down if GROS takes over. "If the assets of Gamma Group and RTDC move to GROS, I will be the first to resign. I believe this is a sufficient guarantee that nothing of the kind will happen. No stripping of assets to GROS or any other company is planned," he insisted, and resigned two months after that. "Tensions have been growing for a long time," Anton Pogrebinsky from ACM-Consulting commented. "It remains to wait and see" whether Khusainov's resignation will stall or accelerate the unification project, he said. Besides Svyazinvest wireless assets, GROS is expected to also manage the assets of Accord-Tel and of the Telco offshore, which recently bought a stake in Delta and MCC. Like RTDC, the holding reportedly plans to merge both carriers into the backbone of a future nationwide operator. globalwirelessnews.com