Page 15 - bne_Tech_02_2020

Telecom
February 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
Russian government said
to reject JV for 5G roll-out, insists on one main operator
Russia’s Ministry of Communication does not support the idea of 5G rollout by a joint venture of telecom operators, sticking to the idea of
a single nationwide operator instead, RBC business portal reported citing unnamed sources in mobile operators.
As analysed by bne IntelliNews, the introduction of 5G network has been impeded by a lack of clear policy, decisions on framework frequency allocation, rollout strategy and the lack of co- operation within and with the private sector.
The government previously proposed to set out
a single state infrastructure operator for 5G rollout that would provide carpet 5G coverage and outsource it to the private operators. This was criticised by the anti-monopoly watchdog and market participants.
Making matters more challenging, the Kremlin chose unpopular frequencies for 5G rollout to force home-made infrastructure development and is likely to enforce the use of domestically produced servers only.
To meet the challenges of the costly 5G roll-out, at the end of 2019 Russia's largest telecom carriers Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Veon, Megafon and state- controlled Rostelecom agreed to combine their efforts in developing and optimising the usage of 5G network. However, the terms of co-operation in such a joint venture have remained largely unclear.
Ignoring the proposal of the operators, the latest draft of the 5G development strategy drafted by the ministry is still based on the model of a single infrastructure operator, the sources familiar with the document told RBC.
Representatives of the ministry told RBC that operators already run an LTE Union, which was deployed to prepare the 4G networks, and the same structure could be used for appropriation of granted 5G frequencies. Thus no need for another 5G-specific JV is seen. The capital expenditures under a single operator would also be minimised, the ministry argues.
Romania’s Digi telecom operator raises €850mn in bond issue
Digi Communications, the parent company that controls Romanian telecom group RCS&RDS, announced on January 30 it extended its bond offering from €800mn to €850mn, Ziarul Financiar daily reported.
The two tranches of the bond are maturing 2025 and 2028. The former has a 2.5% coupon attached
and a size of 450mn. The latter has a 3.25% coupon and its size is €450mn.
The company initially announced the issuance of a bond issue worth €800mn to refinance its debt.
Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG will act as global coordinator and joint holder of the joint