Vimpelcom and MTS may team up to purchase Ukrtelecom’s 3G mobile business

Bloomberg, quoting the Russian Vedomosti newspaper, writes that rival Russian telecoms groups Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Vimpelcom may team up to place a joint offer for the 3G mobile operating business of Ukrainian incumbent telco Ukrtelecom, according to an anonymous source linked to Vimpelcom. Vimpelcom and MTS compete in Ukraine’s mobile and fixed/broadband markets via respective subsidiaries Kyivstar (including Beeline and Golden Telecom) and MTS Ukraine (which is in the process of merging its assets with the group’s fixed division Comstar). As reported by CommsUpdate, Ukrtelecom plans to select a buyer for its 3G operations after 25 November 2011 (tomorrow), the deadline it has set for receiving second-round proposals. In September Ukrtelecom announced it was transferring all assets of its mobile business from its internal Utel division into a newly formed company, TriMob, for sale.