Tuesday, June 26, 2012 -
State authorities in Uzbekistan warned Monday they may revoke the operating license of Russian cell phone company OAO Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) over poor quality of service.
It would be the second time the Uzbek state inspectorate for communications has terminated the company’s license in two years.
The state agency said it has located the unsanctioned operation of 48 base stations that transmit its signals across the country and identified “cases of deterioration of quality” in the service, the Reuters news agency reported.
The body said it will consider suspending or terminating the license if MTS-Uzbekistan fails to resolve the violations.
MTS-Uzbekistan is also under investigation for suspected fraud, prompting the company director Bekhzod Akhmedov to flee back to Russia.
A company spokeswoman said MTS is investing $150 million into development of its infrastructure in 2012 and saw no legitimate reason for suspension of its license.
"MTS has submitted documentation for most of the installed [base stations], the documentation is currently being processed in accordance with the local regulations, but the procedure takes some time," Valeria Kouzmenko said, CBSnews.com reported.
The firm had an 85 percent share of Turkmenistan’s mobile market until late 2010 when the Turkmen government suspended its license. MTS restarted operations in the country only a few months ago.