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Qatar company buys Kazakh mobile network for $1bn

By Shane McGinley
Qatar Kazakh mobile network Khazak Telecom
Kazakhstan's Mobile Telecom-Service LLP has almost 7 million customers
  • Mobile operator has 7m customers
  • Firm a Kazakh-Swedish joint venture

Qatar Power International Holding has bought Kazakhstan’s largest mobile phone network.

The Qatari company, a private conglomerate based in Lusail, has bought Kazakhtelecom subsidiary Mobile Telecom-Service LLP, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Kazakh government on Tuesday.

Person, Electronics, Mobile Phone

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Mobile Telecom-Service LLP is a joint venture between Swedish telco Tele2 and Kazakh high speed mobile internet provider Altel and has almost 7 million customers.

Qatar Power International Holding operates in a number of sectors and employs around 65,000 employees across around 1,000 projects worldwide. 

Salvador Anglada, CEO of e& enterprise, told AGBI in December last year that he believed the Gulf’s telecom sector “is saturated”.

The UAE company – formerly known as Etisalat – was looking at more acquisitions in the wider GCC, as well as Africa and Eastern Europe, he said.

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