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$30m loan to help extend private Uzbek mobile network
The EBRD is lending the Uzbek GSM mobile phone network operator Unitel $30
million in an effort to make mobile communication services more affordable and
accessible to a greater part of the Uzbek population. The Bank already holds a
7 per cent stake in the private, Greek-owned company.
Unitel, which has 106,000 subscribers and a market share of 25 per cent, will
use the funds to extend its network and introduce services, such as pre-pay,
not yet available in the country. Only 1.5 per cent of Uzbeks so far use
mobile phones. By making mobile services more affordable, Unitel aims to
capture the lower income segment of the market.
The loan is consistent with the Bank’s strategy for Uzbekistan, which on
account of slow progress in political and economic reforms stresses
private-sector project finance, particularly for such critical infrastructure
as telecoms.
Unitel is owned by Germanos SA, the leading Greek retail network of mobile
service and equipment centres; Mr Panos Germanos; and the EBRD. Germanos PA,
listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, has a network of about 300 outlets in
Greece and more than 400 in central and eastern Europe.
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