MegaFon has acquired four mobile opera tions in eastern and southern Russia, boosting its spectrum position in the process.
The Russian mobile operator on Monday announced that it has completed the acquisition of four subsidiaries of Smarts, which holds operating licences in various Russian regions, for an undisclosed sum.
The telco said it has bought 100% of Smarts Samara, Astrakhan GSM, Yaroslavl GSM, and Smarts-Cheboksary.
"The acquisition of the companies will strengthen MegaFon’s position in 900/1800 MHz spectrum in the Chuvash Republic and the Samara, Astrakhan and Yaroslavl regions of Russia," the operator said in a statement.
MegaFon’s investor relations and M&A director Dmitry Kononov added that the deal would allow the telco to accelerate the rollout of LTE at 1800 MHz because it will be able to refarm spectrum.
"The acquisition will also allow the company to sustain its leadership in the Samara market, as well as protect MegaFon’s revenue and market share in other cities of the Volga and North-West regions," he added.
At the end of March MegaFon served 29% of the 238.4 million mobile customers in Russia, making it slightly smaller than MTS, which claimed 31%, according to specialist consultancy Advanced Communications & Media (AC&M).
The telco has a stronger presence in St Petersburg than it does in Moscow and the regions though. Its St Petersburg market share stood at 37% at the end of the first quarter, putting it some way ahead of its rivals, AC&M’s numbers show.
It claimed 31% of the Moscow market at the same date, putting it in third place behind MTS and Vimpelcom, and 28% in the regions, making it the number two player after MTS.
