RusTele.com

TTK acquires Electro-com to boost its share in Russian broadband market

The Russian operator TransTeleCom (TTK) has announced the acquisition of regional operator Eleсtro-com, which operates under the brand name Spark.

The acquisition will give TTK a significant boost in the Russian broadband market, amounting to 44% of the market in the Ryazan region and 37% in the Rostov region. It will allow TTK to become one of the largest broadband operators in Taganrog, Volgodonsk and Kaluga, as well as entering the broadband market in Tula, Krasnodar, Bryansk and Obninsk.

Spark’s FTTB network passes around 700,000 households across these cities, with a fiber network reaching over 920km.

Shukurat Ibragimov, VP of strategic development at TTK, said that the transaction is one of the largest ever for the company.

While no details of the cost of the acquisition have been released, there is market speculation that it cost TTK in the region of 2.35 billion rubles ($78.3 million).

TTK operates the largest fiber-optic communication network in Russia, stretching to over 53,000 km of cables, mostly running along railway lines, and with 1,000 access nodes.

The operator has been investing heavily in its infrastructure recent years in an effort to extend and modernize its network.

In September 2011, TTK won 20 out of 24 wireless licenses to offer WiMAX services, in a series of three tenders organized by the Russian regulator Roskomnadzor. In October 2011, the operator announced that it had selected Juniper Networks to upgrade its fiber network to increase bandwidth and provide high-speed connectivity.

TTK has also announced that it is preparing to launch cable TV services from spring 2013 in several regions of Russia.