Chuvashia Mobile (merged with VolgaTelecom)

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Chuvashia Mobile received its license in January 1995 to operate an AMPS network in Republic of Chuvashia with a population of 1.4 million. The company was created as a joint venture between the local Svyazinform company (30%) and Vostok Mobile (70%), an affiliate unit of Global TeleSystems Group Inc. The company was founded in May 1995 and started its services in September 1995. AT&T and Motorola were the equipment suppliers. Its service area included the City of Cheboksary by 1997. The initial investment in the network was US$1.5 million. The network had the capability of supporting 1,000 customers within a radius of 25 miles, but it served around 600 subscribers by 1997. In January 2001 Vostok Mobile B.V was acquired by MCT Corp. Chuvashia Mobile company, incorporated into “Indigo Group” holding, was expected to complete the building of a new network of GSM-1800 standard on the basis of AMPS standard network by the end of March 2004. The network was built on the equipment of the Chinese producer Huawei Technologies Co and covered the territory of Cheboksary city, its suburbs and Novocherkassk city. In Feb. 2006, US-owned MCT Corp had sold its 100% stake in Russian operator Vostok Mobile Volga to an unnamed investor. Vostok Mobile Volga held controlling stakes in several regional cellcos, including 50% in Saratov Mobile, 70% in Chuvashia Mobile and 60% in Penza Mobile. Saratov Mobile and Chuvashia Mobile launched their GSM-1800 networks in 2004. According to MCT, Saratov Mobile and Chuvashia Mobile had around 130,000 subscribers between them. The company did not release financial details of its latest stake sale. As of June 2007, VolgaTelecom owned 100% in NSS, or Nizhny Novgorod Cellular Communications; Mordovia’s RTKOM; Saratov Mobile; Penza Mobile; Chuvashia Mobile and Tatarstan’s Tatincom-T. http://www.ongsm.ru/ru/about_on/ http://www.vt.ru/?id=655 http://www.chr.vt.ru/ Limited investment information.