Qatari investors "Power International Holding" are buying Mobile Telecom-Service LLP (mobile operators Tele2/ALTEL) for $1.1 billion. Among other things, the investors must inject another 300 billion tenge into the infrastructure.
According to ORDA, this was announced by the Minister of Digital Development and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev at a government briefing.
"The arrival of a new Qatari investor is an important initiative, new investment, an expansion of the investor base, and increased competition in the market. The deal value is around a billion dollars. There are plans for investment in basic infrastructure," said Zhaslan Madiyev.
It also emerged that, according to the agreement, Kazakhstan does not have the right to hold tenders for 5G frequencies. The minister stated that existing telecom operators have already received frequencies, but the restriction will apply to new applicants.
Incidentally, Madiyev struggled to answer whether tariffs would change and whether the quality of mobile internet and communication services from these operators would improve following the sale.
As reported by vlast.kz, in February President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Qatar, where an agreement was signed for the sale of Mobile Telecom-Service LLP to the Qatari company "Power International Holding".
Later, the Chairman of the Board of Kazakhtelecom stated that the deal is expected to close by the end of June. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Board of Samruk-Kazyna JSC, Nurlan Zhakupov, assured that it would close sooner.
Incidentally, it was previously reported that the Qatari investment holding "Power International Holding" and the company "Cynosure" plan to build a medical hub in Astana. The project will be implemented in 2 phases using private investment. The first phase is the construction of a medical centre for $196 million (88 billion tenge). The second phase is the creation of the medical hub for $360 million (160 billion tenge).