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Articles & publications
24.06.2010
Svyazinvest discusses cellular market rollout strategyRBC Daily, Anton Bursak
Svyazinvest yesterday discussed its rollout strategy for the cellular market in the near future. The functions of marketing and procurement of equipment and planning of network construction will be assumed by the holding’s wholly-owned subsidiary Mobitel. This company will be in charge of managing both the development of Sky Link after it is assigned to Svyazinvest’s control, and also the expansion of fourth-generation (4G) network expansion.
Yesterday, an internal meeting between the heads of the cellular subsidiaries of Svyazinvest and the management of the state holding took place. According to the executives, the meeting was also attended by Rostelecom, which recently received licenses suitable for expanding LTE, and Sky Link, which is 100% owned by Svyazinvest. Head of the Information Department of Svyazinvest, Igor Pshenichnikov confirmed that the meeting had taken place. He went on to say that the meeting “was of working nature”.
”During the meeting, the holding’s overall strategy was discussed for the cellular telephony market. Svyazinvest’s assets have long existed disparately. It is necessary to work out a uniform strategy, including in the area of marketing and procurement. This will be done by management company Mobitel”, said one of the sources.
According to RBC Daily’s sources, Mobitel will be in charge of all branches of the cellular business which are assigned to Svyazinvest. The company will take control of the existing GSM assets, and also roll out fourth-generation telecommunications networks (this will be done essentially by a special-purpose branch established at Rostelecom.
So far, it remains unclear whether CDMA operator Sky Link will be subordinated to the new structure of Svyazinvest. “A clear-cut strategy has been worked out in this regard. Sky Link will be controlled by Svyazinvest”, one of RBC Daily’s sources said. Until recently, it remained unclear who would head up Mobitel. “This issue was discussed at the meeting. A contract with the company will be signed in the near future”, RBC Daily’s sources said.
The only unsettled question is whether it will be necessary to create a single brand for Svyazinvest’s cellular business. This spring, Svyazinvest sent out proposals to a number of consultants on working out the brand strategy for the merged company. The proposal was received by McKinsey, Roland Berger, Bain & Company, and Strategy Partners. “At present, the Svyazinvest Group has some strong brands, including the holding’s regional cellular subsidiary brands, and also Rostelecom. We have no desire to “kill” the strong brands which customers have become accustomed to, but at the same time we don’t want to be standing still”, a source at the holding told RBC Daily pointed out. According to one of RBC Daily’s source, one possible option could be to set up a so-called umbrella brand. “Cellular assets are in a separate class and each region has its own strong brand recognition. Our task is to maintain this brand recognition for each of the various companies”, RBC Daily’s source went on to say.
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