DUSHANBE, June 20, Asia-Plus  -- The question of rebranding of MLT/TT-Mobile (Mobile Lines of Tajikistan), a closed joint-stock company (CJSC) and one of Tajikistan’s largest cellular operators, as MegaFon still remains open, TT-Mobile director general Gulahmad Qayumovsaid in an interview with Asia-plus.  

“The MegaFon brand is well known within the CIS area and rebranding would promote further development of MLT/TT Mobile,” said Qayumov.  “We were going to rebrand the company last year already, but Tajik Telecom, Tajikistan’s national fixed-line operator, and Russia’s cellular operator MegaFon, who are shareholders of MLT/TT Mobile, decided to suspend the work on rebranding the company.”    

The company still operates under its present name, just changing its advertising image. However, the company’s board of directors is not going to give up its plan to be rebranded. 

We will recall MLT/TT Mobile announced the company’s rebranding initiative in March 2007.  A meeting of the board of directors of MegaFon on this subject was held in Moscow in January 2007. 

However, MegaFon’s plans to rebrand its local daughter company met objections from Tajik Telecom.  Tajik Telecom voted against the company TT-Mobile to be rebranded into MegaFon.   Tajik Deputy Communications Minister, Beg Zuhurov, said in March 2007 that Tajik Telecom, assuming the 25% ownership interest in the company, had not been informed on MegaFon’s plans and had not taken part in any discussions on the matter.  “The company cannot take decisions, which are not agreed on among all the shareholders”, he said.  “The ministry is against the rebranding”.  He added that the move might cost about $600,000.  And Tajik Telecom would have to allocate the quarter of the sum, which is absolutely unrealistic, according to him.

Established in 2001, MLT/TT Mobile currently covers all four provinces of Tajikistan, operating in 40 cities and districts.  The company currently has 200,000th clients. 

MLT/TT Mobile is a joint venture between the Russian cellular operator MegaFon and Tajikistan’s national fixed-line operator, Tajik Telecom. MegaFon owns 75 percent of the shares and Tajik Telecom holds a 25 percent interest in MLT/TT-Mobile. 

MegaFon, an open joint stock company, was founded in May 2002 with the renaming and reorganization of the Russian cellular operator North-West GSM. 

MLT/TT Mobile was the first cellular operator in Tajikistan to offer its clients the 3G standard in 2005.