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Russian CDMA Operator Wins GSM License in Chechnya
Russia's Sky Link, a predominantly CDMA operator has been awarded a GSM operator license in the troubled province of Chechnya. There are now five companies authorised to operate in the province, although only Megafon and Vimplecom actually have live networks.
Of the big three operators, MTS is the only one not operating a network, as the company claims that its GSM1800 license is inappropriate for the largely mountainous region. The company is holding out for some GSM900 spectrum before it will offer services.
Sky Link has been picking up GSM licenses around Russia over the past couple of weeks and says that it plans to deploy a dual CDMA-GSM network throughout Russia. Quite how they are financing this remains a mystery though.
According to the 2004 estimates, the population of Chechnya is approximately 1.1 million.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the territory has been locked in an ongoing struggle between various factions, usually fighting unconventionally and the forgoing position as held by the several successive Russian governments through the current administration. Various demographic factors including religious ones have continued to keep the area in a near constant state of war.
Posted to the site on 5th November 2007