BRATISLAVA, August 8, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovakia’s Telecommunications Office has confirmed on Monday, August 8, that its representatives met with representatives of the Vietnamese post and telecommunications services provider Viettel Corporation last week. The office stated that the company expressed interest in entering the Slovak electronic telecommunications market. Should Viettel Corporation enter the Slovak market, it would become the fourth mobile operator. “It is not clear yet whether Viettel alone seeks entry to the Slovak telecommunications market or if it merely represents the interests of an operator or a consortium,” explained the office’s spokesman, Roman Vavro. Based on the information that media released, it is the mobile operator Viettel Mobile that is a part of the concern Viettel Corporation that is interested in Slovakia. Vavro said, however, that the mobile operator may also create a new brand for the Slovak market or establish a joint venture with another company.
The Telecommunications Office announced last week that a number of companies are interested in entering the Slovak electronic telecommunications market. Representatives of Viettel Corporation have expressed eminent interest. Vavro elaborated that the company sought information on frequencies in the 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz bands, which are suitable mostly for launching an LTE network, used for provision of high-speed Internet services. Representatives of Viettel Corporation also talked about their previous experience with cheap terminal equipment, low prices and accessibility of services for customers in densely populated areas of the country at the meeting, Vavro disclosed.
In a selection process, the Telecommunications Office will award licenses for use of frequencies in the bands of 800 MHz and 2600 MHz. Until the end of this year, operators may use frequencies in the band of 2 600 MHz to provide services of retransmission of unchanged TV programs (MMDS). Frequencies in the 800 MHz band were originally allocated for the so-called transition multiplex digital broadcasting, DVB-T. The Telecommunications Office, however, according to Vavro, is working intensively to let mobile operators use the frequencies in both bands in 2012.
SITA
