Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 4
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
The mobile operator Beeline (Unitel Ltd., a subsidiary of Russian VimpelCom OJSC in Uzbekistan), has commissioned a wireless GSM-network for the country's banks, the press service of the operator said.
A unified network allows banks and their branches to provide wireless mobile GSM communication with subunits in remote areas, as well as to communicate with a single processing center and other financial institutions. Currently, GSM-network unites the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, as well as 40 commercial banks and their branches.
In the near future, Beeline will continue to work on the expansion of a single GSM-network for banks of the republic.
The project cost is not reported.
There are 26 commercial banks and dozens of their branches in the banking system of Uzbekistan.
In 2006, VimpelCom acquired Unitel, the second largest mobile communication operator in Uzbekistan, from the international consortium headed by the Germanos S.A.
VimpelCom also acquired the Uzbek GSM operator Buztel, and then merged Unitel's and Buztel's networks.
In March 2009, Unitel and the fixed network operator Buzton (Golden Telecom's subsidiary) started rendering commercial services under a unified brand name of Beeline.
Currently, Unitel is the leading telecommunications operator in Uzbekistan. In the first quarter of 2015, the number of subscribers of the company reached 10.356 million.
Currently, Uzbekistan has five mobile communication operators: Unitel (Russian VimpelCom's subsidiary), Coscom (Scandinavian TeliaSonera's subsidiary operating under the trade name Ucell), Rubicon Wireless Communications (RWC, operating under the trade name Perfectum Mobile), Uzbektelekom Mobile (Uzmobile) and Universal Mobile Systems (UMS).
The UMS is a joint venture, created by the Russia-based company Mobile TeleSystems JSC (MTS) and the Center of Radio Contact, Broadcast and Television, which is a state unitary enterprise operating under the Uzbek State Committee for Communications, Information and Telecommunication Technologies. Under an agreement earlier signed between MTS and Uzbekistan, the Russian company received a 50.01-percent share in the UMS, while the Uzbek side got a 49.99-percent share.
Edited by CN