The Matryoshka Principle

Just when you think you have Russian Mobile Telecoms figured out - Alfa fights with Sistema, the Russian Minister for Communications and its’ European partners (Telenor and TeliaSonera) - another tactic is revealed.

This time the main three operators have mysteriously and miraculously managed independently to set the same interconnect rate at a much higher level than before. This news is extremely bad for the smaller market players and could provide a severe dent into Tele2’s Russian ambitions.

I suppose there is the potential for even sworn enemies to get together and scheme when US$1bn of revenues are at risk through the introduction of a Calling Party Pays (CPP) system. Heaven only knows, what will happen with the forthcoming privatisation of Svyazinvest.