Etisalat said to be in talks over Turkmenistan entry

Etisalat is reported to have held meetings with the Turkmenistan government that could lead to it taking over the suspended mobile network that was operated by Russia’s MTS.

Late last year, MTS’ network in Turkmenistan was shut down by the government after it decided not to renew a five-year agreement with the company.

However, as MTS had around an 80 per cent market share the shut-down has had a catastrophic impact on the local market, and the state-owned rival is not able to cope with demand for accounts.

Officials from Etisalat have begun a working visit to Turkmenistan, Central Asia Online reported on May 5. The company’s executives met with government officials to discuss a potential telecom partnership, the communication ministry said.

MTS was estimated to have had just under 2.4 million subscribers at the end of September 2010.