Telecom company Vimpel-Communications (VIP) said Wednesday that its joint venture in Vietnam, GTEL-Mobile Joint Stock Co., has received a GSM license and frequencies.
In July, VimpelCom had signed a joint venture and shareholders agreement to establish the joint venture company with Vietnamese state-owned enterprise Global Telecommunications Corp., or GTEL, and its subsidiary GTEL TSC.
VimpelCom is paying US$267 million for its 40% equity interest in GTEL-Mobile joint venture. GTEL and GTEL TSC will have an equity interest of 51% and 9%, respectively, in the joint venture.
VimpelCom said that with the issuance of the GSM license and frequencies, the joint venture has now received all of the regulatory approvals required under the deal, including the joint venture company's registration.
Commenting on the joint venture and the GSM license, Alexander Izosimov, chief executive officer of VimpelCom, said, "Now, with all the procedural issues solved, we can focus all our efforts on the network rollout and the preparation of commercial launch. The experience that our team has already gained in Vietnam will help us to work effectively going forward and to take advantage of all the opportunities the Vietnamese market offers."
VIP closed Tuesday's trading at $19.75, down $0.89, on a volume of 3.82 million shares.
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