PJSC "Mobile TeleSystems" (MTS) acquired 100% of the shares of the regional mobile operator "Cellular Communications of Bashkortostan" (SSB, brand "Sotel"). The deal amounted to RUB 300 million, including the company's net debt.

The acquisition of OJSC Cellular Communications of Bashkortostan was announced yesterday by the press service of MTS. 100% of the shares of SSB were purchased from the owner of the asset - Bashinformsvyaz PJSC. This operator is currently a 100% subsidiary of PJSC Rostelecom.

MTS noted that the purchase of the asset will allow the operator to expand its presence in the Republic of Bashkortostan and get additional frequency resource, including two 15 MHz bands in the 2100 MHz range, as well as two 4.4 MHz bands in the 450 MHz range.

"The acquisition of a significant frequency resource in Bashkortostan, one of the ten largest telecom markets in the regions of Russia, is fully consistent with our strategy to strengthen the regional presence of MTS," said Andrei Ushatsky, vice president of MTS for technology and IT.

According to him, closing this deal, MTS is doubling the frequency resource in the 2100 MHz range in Bashkortostan to expand the capacity and increase the data transmission speed of 3G networks. In the future, these frequencies will be used for the development of LTE networks.

A spokesman for Rostelecom's press service said yesterday in an interview with ComNews that the deal had been made at a reasonable price. However, he did not disclose information about whether there were other applicants for this asset.

The SSB operator was founded in December 1993 and developed a CDMA mobile communication network on the territory of Bashkortostan. In addition, in 2011, SSB received a license (extended in November 2016) to provide services in the UMTS (3G) standard in the Republic of Bashkortostan. In 2014, the operator put into operation two UMTS base stations, but by the end of 2016, the commercial operation of the UMTS network was not carried out.

According to the report of "Cellular Communications of Bashkortostan" for 2016, the company's revenue decreased by 3.7% compared to 2015 and amounted to 86.5 million rubles. At the same time, the operator's expenses in 2016 amounted to 205 million rubles. According to the results of last year, the net loss of PRS amounted to 122.2 million rubles. Accounts payable of the PRS at the end of last year amounted to 695 million rubles. Accounts receivable - RUB 16.6 million The operator's net assets are negative: minus RUB 891.8 million. The annual report indicates that in 2016 the subscriber base of the PRS decreased by 8.7%, to 29.5 thousand. The outflow of subscribers amounted to 2.8 thousand.

Note that the operator of the SSB did not become part of the deal to create a joint venture (JV) between Tele2 and Rostelecom.

In March 2014, Rostelecom and Tele2 Russia signed a framework agreement on the integration of mobile assets into the authorized capital of T2 Rus Holding JV, then renamed T2 RTK Holding LLC (see ComNews dated March 7, 2014) ... As part of the first stage of integration in March 2014, seven subsidiary cellular companies of Rostelecom passed under the operational and financial control of Tele2 (see ComNews dated March 27, 2014). At the second stage - in August of the same year - Rostelecom transferred the integrated mobile assets allocated to RT-Mobile CJSC to the joint venture and reissued the licenses (see ComNews dated August 7, 2014).

A spokesman for Rostelecom's press service yesterday explained in a conversation with ComNews that at the time of the transfer of Rostelecom's mobile assets to the JV, Bashinformsvyaz had a minority stake and additional corporate procedures were required to transfer the PRS to T2 RTK Holding. "For this reason, PRS did not enter the perimeter of the deal to create a joint venture," said a representative of Rostelecom.

Recall that in 2014 Rostelecom owned 70.8% of ordinary shares of Bashinformsvyaz (or 68.18% of the authorized capital). It was only in the spring of 2015 that the board of directors of Rostelecom made a decision to consolidate 100% of Bashinformsvyaz shares (see ComNews dated April 10, 2015), having fully completed this process by November 2015.

In addition to MTS, other operators of the Big Four have already noted acquisitions of regional cellular assets this year. Thus, PJSC MegaFon in March acquired three regional assets from the SMARTS group of companies. MegaFon acquired 100% each of SMARTS-Ulyanovsk JSC, SMARTS-Saransk JSC and SMARTS-Penza JSC. These companies were the last of the cellular assets of SMARTS, the sale of which the company began in 2007 (see ComNews, March 2, 2017).

Mobile operator Bashkortostan Cellular Communications OJSC (SSB, operates under the Sotel brand, a subsidiary of Bashinformsvyaz OJSC) by the end of the year may enter into a joint venture between Rostelecom and Tele2 Russia - T2 RTK Holding LLC ( former "T2 rus holding"). The JV's petition to join the operator was approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation last Friday. Rostelecom says that before the deal is completed, a number of internal corporate approvals must go through, in particular, because the republic controls the blocking stake in Sotel's parent company. Kommersant's interlocutors believe that in the course of preparing the merger, Rostelecom will try to accumulate the entire stake in Bashinformsvyaz.

FAS Russia last Friday approved the petition of T2 rus holding LLC (JV Rostelecom and Tele2 Russia) to acquire 100% of the shares of Bashkortostan Cellular Communication OJSC. 100% of the shares of the mobile operator operating in the CDMA format are owned by OJSC Bashinformsvyaz. Rostelecom owns a controlling stake in the parent company SSB (68.18% of the authorized capital, or 70.78% of shares). Another 17.84% of the authorized capital of Bashinformsvyaz, according to SPARK-Interfax, is owned by the republic.

The press service of Rostelecom explained to Kommersant that the FAS approval was a preparatory stage for the transaction. The final decision on transferring the PRS to the JV should be made by the Board of Directors of Bashinformsvyaz. The date of the council was not announced. The management of Bashinformsvyaz refused to officially comment on this topic yesterday. The interlocutor in the company said that the next meeting of the board of directors is scheduled for April, on the eve of the general annual meeting of shareholders. However, his agenda has not yet been approved, he said. The press service of Tele2 Russia refrained from commenting.

Rostelecom and Tele2 announced the creation of a joint venture and plans to create a new federal cellular operator in February this year. Rostelecom plans to contribute its mobile assets to the charter capital. Some of them have already been transferred: Sky Link, Nizhegorodskaya Sotovaya Svyaz, Baikalwestcom, BIT, Volgograd GSM, Yeniseitelecom and AKOS. According to the press service of Tele2, the new operator will provide communication services under the Tele2 brand for 38 million subscribers in 60 regions of Russia. The final consolidation of assets was planned to be completed by the end of the year. According to the results, Rostelecom planned to receive 26% of the authorized capital and 45% of votes in the joint venture, Tele2 - the rest of the stake. It was planned to conclude MVNO agreements between the JV participants (virtual mobile operator using the existing infrastructure of another operator, but selling services under its own brand), licensing agreements for companies' brands, and others.

Bashkortostan Cellular Communication OJSC was founded in October 1992 and provides mobile communication services in the CDMA format on the territory of Bashkiria. The subscriber base, as of the end of 2012, totaled 38.2 thousand subscribers, the share of the region's mobile communications market was 1.73%. The authorized capital of the PRS is 985.1 million rubles. Revenue in 2012, according to Kartoteka.ru, amounted to 118.2 million rubles, net loss - 96.4 million rubles. The activity of PRS has been unprofitable since 2004.

The Ministry of Land and Property Relations of Bashkiria did not comment on the upcoming deal yesterday. The reception department said that the deputy minister in charge of this topic, Ildar Shafikov, was busy.

Director General of the "Regional Fund" Yuri Smirnov did not answer his mobile phone call.

A former high-ranking government official told Kommersant that since the acquisition by Rostelecom of a stake in Bashinformsvyaz (in 2011), "the possibility of selling and a stake in the republic has been discussed many times, but the question of price has arisen." “The regional government wanted to retain participation in the enterprise, on the one hand, because of its strategic nature, on the other, in order to be able to influence its policy, but these calculations did not come true. It can be assumed that now nothing prevents us from conceding the package, ”the source said.

Experts also believe that the deal will be preceded by an attempt by Rostelecom to consolidate 100% of the parent company, SSB. “It is certainly more profitable for the republic to sell its share than to own a nominal stake,” believes Anton Pogrebinsky of the analytical company ACM-Consulting. The analyst found it difficult to estimate the share of the republic, suggesting that we can talk about "symbolic, very small money." For SSB subscribers, the transfer to service in a large federal holding, according to analysts, promises positive results. “This will give the company a new round of development as a federal, very ambitious player,” noted Anton Pogrebinsky. The representative of iKS-Consulting Maxim Savvatin suggested that "the new operator will eventually be transferred to the LTE format, which will attract interest and new subscribers." “It is not yet clear what will happen to the frequencies at which Sotel operates, but subscribers are likely to really switch to other communication formats,” agrees Denis Kuskov, general director of the Telecom daily agency. in the case of the current financial indicators of "Cellular communication of Bashkortostan" it could work in the uncompetitive CDMA format for two years, no more. "

Bulat Bashirov, Natalia Pavlova

Mobile operators

Taking into account the latest data, since the beginning of the company's work, its client base has replenished by more than 300 thousand people.

For subscribers who prefer to travel abroad, the federal Sotel network provides roaming in 11 countries of the world, including Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Sweden and several others.

Mobile operator tariff plans

1. By purchasing the starter package " Piggy bank»Subscribers will be able to enjoy profitable communication: with a subscription fee of only 90 rubles, callers receive free incoming calls, outgoing within the network at 0 rubles per minute, plus an excellent bonus - minutes that will be credited in a certain set amount for each incoming call.

   Within the framework of this tariff, calls to all other telephones, including local and mobile numbers of the city of Ufa and the region - 1.50 rubles.

   Thanks to this tariff, which is offered by the Sotel operator, subscribers will be happy to enjoy unlimited communication, but they will have to pay 90 kopecks for SMS messages.

   But the Internet in this package is only a ruble per megabyte (compared to other mobile operators).
   

2. Tariff " Unlimited 1500»Will allow you to communicate for 50 minutes a day with subscribers of all operators in Bashkortostan, as well as owners of Ufa city numbers.

   After the daily number of minutes has been exhausted, billing for all calls will be charged in the amount of 1 ruble for 60 seconds of communication (when connected, the first three seconds are not billed).

   Incoming calls and messages within the package will cost 0 rubles, and the Internet will be more expensive compared to the “Piggy bank” tariff plan: one ruble from 12 am to 7 am, and 4 rubles from 8 am to 8 pm.

3. If subscribers prefer to use the Internet a lot, then it is better to choose packages that are specifically designed for this.

   For example, the "Unlimited 19" tariff will allow you to use mobile Internet for only 19 rubles per day without prepayment, limited traffic and speed.

What they say about the operator

Operator Sotel, in principle, meets all the needs of its customers. For mobile communication, the company has developed a tariff plan with 1500 minutes per month, which is very satisfactory for subscribers.

There are also positive reviews about tariffs, within which it is very convenient and profitable to use the Internet. As for the main office: for someone to travel far, the location does not suit.

There are times when some subscribers complain about an unstable connection, for example, on the road. But in many ways, the operator is satisfied with both the speed of the Internet and the quality of the services provided.

You can call the company by dialing 8 901 952-80-80 and 347 252-80-80. Head office address in Ufa: st. Rabkorov, 2 (coordinates for correspondence: index 450106, PO Box 32).

The help desk can be called by the numbers listed above, as well as by the short number 000 (free of charge and only from intranet numbers).