Uralwestcom (merged with SkyLink)

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Uralwestcom, an NMT-450 standard mobile operator, based in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, is a member of Sotel association and represents the Indigo trademark in the Urals. The company was established in December 1995 as a joint venture between the RTDC Holdings (49%) and Uralsvyazinform (51%) (previously known as Uraltelecom). The company started the commercial operations of its NMT 450 network in March 1996. Its services covered major part of the Ural area by 1997. Cost of the project was US$5 million by 1997. At the first stage, the network started operation in Ekaterinburg with an extension to the area close to the Koltsovo airport. The company had around 3,000 subscribers by 1997. The population in the licensed area was 4.7 million by 1997. In 2000, MediaOne sold its subsidiary RTDC to MCT Corp. RTDC, formerly a part of MCT Corp, was acquired by RTC-Leasing in April 2002 as payment of MCT's debt to AT&T. The project to pursue the CDMA-2000 standard was approved by the Sotel association of NMT-450 operators in April 2002. During the first stage of the network building the company intended to install 28 base stations, covering 28% of the region's territory. The company planned to put the network into commercial operation in 2004. In total, the company planned to invest US$25 million by the end of 2007. Since March 2005 the company operated under Sky Link brand as Sky Link Ekaterenburg. http://www.ekt-skylink.ru/about/history/