DUSHANBE, September 25, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Russia’s cellular operator, MegaFon, will invest 21 million U.S. dollars in development of its subsidiary, MegaFon-Tajikistan, in Tajikistan.

According to information posted on MegaFon’s website, the first deputy director of the company Valery Yermakov said that they would invest 21 million U.S. dollars in development of MegaFon-Tajikistan in 2010.  It is planned that MegFon-Tajikistan will top Tajik cellular operators in terms of receipt volumes in the near future.  According to Yermakov, 190 base stations of communications and retail trade outlets are expected to be constructed in Tajikistan by the end of 2010. 

We will recall that MLT/TT Mobile, a closed joint-stock company (CJSC) and one of Tajikistan’s largest cellular operators, resumed the process of rebranding, replacing its original brand MLT with the brand of Russia’s MegaFon, in late July this year and presentation of MegaFon-Tajikistan was held in Dushanbe on September 24.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the MLT director general Gulmahmad Qayumov noted yesterday that MegaFon-Tajikistan plans to cover the whole territory of Tajikistan already this year.  MegaFon-Tajikistan now has some 200,000 subscribers in Tajikistan.   

MLT/TT Mobile was established on September 3, 2001.  Since October 5, 2001, when the company was registered under the brand of MLT (Mobile Lines of Tajikistan), it has provided cellular communications services in the GSM standard.  The company covers all regions of Tajikistan, operating in 40 cities and districts.

MLT/TT Mobile is a joint venture between the Russian cellular operator MegaFon and Tajikistan’s national fixed-line operator, Tajiktelecom.  MegaFon owns 75 percent of the shares and Tajiktelecom 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.  MegaFon is now Russia''s third-largest mobile operator. 

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