Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 31 Jan. / Trend, D. Azizov /
Uzbek-Indian joint venture OliveTelecom began the production of equipment for subscribers of the CDMA-450 mobile network in Uzbekistan, the first deputy general director of Uzbektelecom JSC, Kakhramon Yuldashev said on Thursday.
According to him, to date, the first 1,000 fixed CDMA-terminals have been produced; they will enter the commercial market in early February.
"In 2013, we plan to expand our volume and range of products," Yuldashev said.
Indian Olive Telecommunication and Uzbektelecom JSC signed the founding documents for the establishment of the OliveTelecom JV in February 2012. The cost of the project at the first phase is $6 million dollars.
JV's capacity initially will be 10,000 CDMA-modems, 38,000 mobile and fixed CDMA-terminals and 13.5 thousand tablets per year. The project also considers the development of smartphones of CDMA-450 standard.
JV is located in the Free Industrial Economic Zone (FIEZ) Navoi.
Uzbektelecom JSC is the national telecom operator in the country, providing local, long-distance and international voice telephony, data networks, and other services.
In 2004, Uzbektelecom JSC established its branch Uzbektelecom Mobile for development and operation of a cellular network in 450 MHz band. In 2009, Uzmobile (trademark of Uzbektelecom Mobile) launched EV-DO Rev.A technology in some regions based on CDMA-450 standard.
At the end of 2012, the number of Uzmobile subscribers increased by 2.1 times and reached over 200 million. The level of coverage in the country is 71%.