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Comstar - "Comstar-United Telesystems". Comstar - "Comstar-United Telesystems" Comstar Mobile Telesystems OJSC

Comstar - United TeleSystems (COMSTAR - UTS OJSC, LSE: CMST) is the largest operator of integrated telecommunications services in Russia and the CIS.

The COMSTAR-UTS Group of Companies includes Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS), the leader of the capital's fixed-line market, as well as STREAM-TV, a leading provider of cable TV and Internet access services in the regions of Russia. COMSTAR-UTS is a leader in the market of broadband Internet access and interactive digital television (IP-TV) services in Moscow.

Subsidiaries and branches of COMSTAR-UTS operate in the largest regions in 6 Federal districts of the Russian Federation (Central, Northwestern, Southern, Volga, Ural, Siberian), including in the Moscow, Ryazan regions, St. Petersburg, Samara , Saratov, Orenburg, Rostov, Tyumen regions (including Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk region, Krasnodar Territory, etc. In addition, COMSTAR-UTS has telecommunications assets in Armenia and Ukraine.

The main shareholder of COMSTAR-UTS is Joint-Stock Financial Corporation (JSFC) Sistema. Since February 2006, 35% of the shares of COMSTAR - United TeleSystems are in circulation on the RTS, MSE and the London Stock Exchange.

Based on its own multi-service communication network, COMSTAR-UTS provides a full range of the most modern telecommunications services and integrated solutions to consumers in all market segments: from private users to large corporations with an extensive network of branches. A powerful technological and professional resource allows us to provide the company’s clients and partners with the necessary package of services, taking into account the specifics of their life needs and business conditions. The operator carries out projects to install telephones in offices, create full-scale corporate communication networks, comprehensive telecommunications equipment for residential and commercial real estate, and also offers a full range of products for home use (Triple Play), including telephony, high-speed Internet access and pay television.

Comstar Internet

The optimal scheme for organizing Comstar Internet access individually for each client, using a variety of technical approaches, makes it possible to organize Comstar Internet communications even in difficult cases. Connection to the Comstar Internet network can be at any speed up to 100 Mbit/s. Using Comstar Internet provides the ability to simultaneously connect any number of computers to the network and no problems with organizing the “last mile”

K: Companies founded in 2004 K: Companies liquidated in 2011

OJSC "Comstar - United TeleSystems"(Comstar - United Telesystems) is a Russian telecommunications company. Full name - Open Joint Stock Company "Comstar - United TeleSystems". Abbreviated in business terms as “Comstar-UTS”. Headquarters - in Moscow.

Owners and management

In October 2009, AFK Sistema sold a controlling stake in Comstar (50.91%) to its subsidiary MTS. The transaction amount was RUB 39.15 billion.

MGTS Finance S.A. package (11.06%, Luxembourg) MTS exchanged for 1.6% of its treasury shares

Management

Activity

Comstar-UTS served more than 4 million subscribers, providing voice communication services, data transmission, Internet access (including WiMAX technology) and pay television. Comstar owned a digital fiber-optic transport network with a total length of over 6,000 km, covering the entire territory of Moscow.

The company's share in the broadband Internet access market in Moscow (1st quarter) is 30%.

The company has branches and regional representative offices in Samara, Tolyatti, Saratov, Engels, Orenburg, Nizhnevartovsk, Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Sochi, Stavropol, Obninsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, Orel and other cities, as well as Kyiv , Odessa, Armenia. In total, the company provides services in 15 regions of Russia in 82 cities.

Comstar-UTS owned 100% of the shares of Comstar-Direct CJSC, 65.66% of ordinary shares, or 54.72% of the authorized capital of MGTS. In addition, Comstar owned the telecommunications operators DG Tel, Technological Systems (Ukraine) and Kollnet (Armenia). In December 2006, Comstar for $900 million acquired from Mustcom, owned by Leonard Blavatnik, a 17.3% stake in Svyazinvest (a Russian telecommunications company that controls stakes in seven interregional communications companies and Rostelecom), another 7.7% went to a subsidiary of MGTS (MGTS Finance S.A.).

Comstar-Direct

A subsidiary of Comstar-UTS, Comstar-Direct CJSC (until December 13, 2006 - MTU-Intel CJSC), provided dial-up and broadband Internet access services using ADSL technology under the Stream brand

Story

MTU-Intel was founded in 1993 as JSC Interlink Holding (later renamed). On March 1, 1999, it began to provide dial-up Internet access services (having received the right to do so from MTU-Inform). On September 18, 2001, the telecommunications operator PTT-Teleport Moscow (which has been developing an ADSL access project in Moscow for corporate subscribers under the Tochka.Ru brand since 2000) was merged with MTU-Intel CJSC.

In April 2004, MTU-Intel began providing broadband ADSL access to private users under the Stream brand, becoming the leader in the broadband access segment in Moscow in 2005. Since January 2006, television content producer Sistema Multimedia CJSC (whose main shareholder is Comstar-UTS) has been merged with MTU-Intel CJSC, which launched the Stream-TV service in Moscow in the spring of 2005.

After this reorganization, shares in the authorized capital of Comstar-Direct CJSC were distributed as follows:

OJSC Comstar-UTS - 51.819%;
OJSC Sistema Mass Media - 48.136%;
CJSC Sistema-Inventure - 0.045%.

To further develop the Stream brand and bring it to the broadband Internet access market in Russian regions, AFK Sistema, which controlled all three shareholders of Comstar-Direct, began to develop ideas for reorganizing the company, ultimately deciding to keep it, transferring all 100% of the shares of OJSC Comstar-UTS. At the same time, during the reorganization in the summer of 2007, many top managers left the company. On December 30, 2008, 100% of the shares of Comstar-Direct were consolidated by Comstar-UTS.

Achievements

During the period of independent activity, before renaming to Comstar-Direct, MTU-Intel achieved recognition as an Internet provider:

Activity

Comstar-Direct provided broadband Internet access service using ADSL technology, as well as digital interactive IP television services under the Stream brand based on the MGTS public data network.

Formally, Comstar-Direct CJSC owned the Stream trademark, but all subscribers were serviced by Comstar-UTS.

Comstar-Regions

In February 2010, Comstar-Regions for 220 million rubles. acquired a 100% stake in the authorized capital of the Yaroslavl telecom operator TensorTelecom LLC, the second provider in terms of market share in the city of Yaroslavl (22% at the time of acquisition, 23 thousand subscribers).

In May 2010, sixteen subsidiary regional operators of Comstar-UTS were merged with Comstar-Regions CJSC: Ivanovo Cable Networks CJSC, Inter TV Cable Networks CJSC, Inter-Telecom CJSC, TVK-Sever CJSC, CJSC TVK-Soyuznaya, CJSC TVK-Center, CJSC TVK-Seim, CJSC TVK-Kursk, CJSC TVK-Internet, CJSC Kurant, CJSC TVK, CJSC KTV, CJSC Ural Telephone Company, CJSC Tambov-Telecom, CJSC Maxima Engineering, CJSC First Perm Internet Center. In January 2011, ten more regional companies were merged with Comstar-Regions CJSC: Nizhny Novgorod CJSC Sendi Info and TSN CJSC, NPO Vidis CJSC (Dzerzhinsk), Tversvyazinform CJSC, Regional Cable Networks CJSC (Moscow), CJSC Esta Telecom (Kaluga), CJSC Mark TV (Izhevsk), CJSC Trunk (Astrakhan), CJSC TV-Maidan Television Company (Rostov-on-Don), CJSC Infotek ( Ekaterinburg) .

Management

As part of the merger of Comstar with MTS OJSC, top managers of MTS came to the management of Comstar-Regions CJSC: on March 1, 2011, the director of the MTS-Russia business unit, Alexander Popovsky, was appointed general director of the company, and commercial director - Dmitry Bagdasaryan, director for regional fixed-line business development of the MTS Russia business unit.

Symbolism

During its history, the company had two logos:

In 2004-2006 there was a logo with the word “COMSTAR” and a red tooth, below to the left of the letter “S” is the word “UNITED”, to the right of the letter “S” is the word “TELESYSTEMS”.
From 2006 to 2010 - a dark blue square with an egg, next to a dark blue square with the word “COMSTAR” (in 2010 there was a gradual move away from an independent brand).

Until 2011, all regional companies (including the companies of the Stream-TV group, transferred to the Stream brand in 2007) were planned to be transferred under the single Comstar brand. However, on October 13, 2009, MTS announced the purchase of a controlling stake in Comstar, and on May 11, 2010, Comstar and MTS announced the transition to a single MTS brand.

By the end of 2011, two brands remained on the Russian market within the MTS Group of Companies (including MTS, Comstar-UTS, MGTS) - MTS and MGTS.

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Notes

//finmarket.ru (Retrieved October 13, 2009)
http://www.cybersecurity.ru/telecommunication/87694.html Comstar buys Yaroslavl provider TensorTelecom]

An excerpt characterizing Comstar - United TeleSystems

“Show it to me, North!” I asked, unable to bear it. - Show me Magdalene, please...
To my greatest surprise, instead of harsh stone caves, I saw a gentle, blue sea, on the sandy shore of which a woman stood. I immediately recognized her - it was Mary Magdalene... Radomir’s only love, his wife, the mother of his wonderful children... and his widow.
She stood straight and proud, unbending and strong... And only on her clear, thin face lived a burning, hidden pain... She was still very similar to that wondrous, bright girl whom the North once showed me... only now her funny, sweet face was already darkened by real, “adult” sadness... Magdalena was beautiful with that warm and gentle feminine beauty that equally amazed both young and old, forcing them to honor her, stay with her, serve her, and love her , how can one love only a dream that suddenly became embodied in a person.... She stood very calmly, intently peering somewhere into the distance, as if expecting something. And next to her, tenaciously hugging her knees, huddled a tiny girl - the second little Magdalene!.. She looked amazingly like her mother - the same long golden hair... the same radiant blue eyes... and the same funny, cheerful dimples on soft smiling cheeks. The girl was amazingly pretty and funny. But the mother seemed so sad that the baby did not dare to disturb her, but only stood quietly, huddled closely, as if she was waiting for this strange, incomprehensible mother’s sadness to pass... A gentle breeze lazily played in the golden strands of Magdalena’s long hair, at times running over her tender cheeks, carefully touching them with the warm sea breeze... She stood frozen, like a statue, and only tense anticipation was clearly visible in her sad eyes... Suddenly, very far on the horizon, a white, fluffy dot appeared, slowly turning into distant sail. Magdalena immediately transformed and came to life, hugging her daughter tightly to her, and said as cheerfully as possible:
- Well, here we are, my treasure! You wanted to see where mom came to this country from? I wanted to, right?.. So you and I will sail far, far away until we reach the farthest shore, where our HOME is... You will love it as much as I loved it. I promise you.
Bending down, Magdalena wrapped her arms around her tiny daughter, as if wanting to protect her from the troubles that her refined, affectionate soul was ripening in their future.
- Mommy, tell me, will daddy also swim with us? We can't leave him here, can we? Is it true? - and suddenly, coming to her senses, she asked in surprise, “Why has he been gone for so long?.. We haven’t seen him for almost two months... Mom, where’s dad?”
Magdalena’s eyes became stern and detached... And I immediately realized that her little daughter did not yet know that dad would never sail anywhere with them again, since the same two months ago he ended his short life on the cross.. Well, the unfortunate Magdalene, apparently, could not dare to tell this small, pure man about such a terrible, inhuman misfortune. And how could she tell her about this, so tiny and defenseless? How can I explain to her that there were people who hated her kind, bright dad?.. That they longed for his death. And that none of the Knights of the Temple - his friends - could save him?..
And she answered just as affectionately and confidently, trying to calm her alarmed baby.
“Daddy won’t sail with us, my angel.” Just like your beloved brother, Svetodar.... They have a duty that they must fulfill. You remember, I told you what debt is? Do you remember?.. We will sail together with friends - you and me... I know you love them. You will be fine with them, my dear. And I will always be with you. I promise you.
The girl calmed down and asked more cheerfully:
- Mom, tell me, are there a lot of little girls in your country? Will I have a girlfriend there? Otherwise I’m still with big people and big people... But it’s not interesting with them. And they don't know how to play.
- Well, dear, what about your uncle, Radan? – Magdalena asked smiling. – You’re always interested in him, aren’t you? And he tells you funny stories, doesn’t he?
The little girl thought for a minute, and then said very seriously:
– Well, maybe it’s not so bad with them, with adults. But I still miss my friends... I'm little, right? Well, my friends must be small. And adults should only be there sometimes.
Magdalena looked at her in surprise, and unexpectedly grabbed her daughter in her arms and loudly kissed her on both cheeks.
- You're right, honey! Adults should only play with you sometimes. I promise - we will find you the best friend there! You'll just have to wait a little. But you can do this, right? You are the most patient girl in the world, aren’t you?...
This simple, warm dialogue between two lonely loving creatures sank into my very soul!.. And I so wanted to believe that everything would be fine with them! That evil fate would pass them by and that their life would be bright and kind!.. But, unfortunately, just like me, I knew they wouldn’t have it... Why did we pay such a price?!. Why were our destinies so ruthless and cruel?
Before I had time to turn to the North to ask the next question, a new vision immediately appeared, which simply took my breath away...
In the cool shade of a huge old plane tree, four people were sitting on funny low benches. Two of them were still very young and very similar to each other. The third was a gray-haired old man, tall and strong, like a protective rock. On his lap he held a boy who was at most 8-9 years old. And of course, the North didn’t need to explain to me who these people were...

I recognized Radomir immediately, since there was too much left in him of that wonderful, bright young man I saw on my first visit to Meteora. He only matured greatly, became stern and more mature. His blue, piercing eyes now looked at the world carefully and harshly, as if saying: “If you don’t believe me, listen to me again, and if you don’t believe me even then, leave. Life is too valuable to give it to those who are not worth it.”
He was no longer that “loving”, naive boy who thought that he had the power to change any person... that he could change the whole world... Now Radomir was a Warrior. His whole appearance spoke about this - his inner composure, his ascetically thin but very strong body, the persistent fold in the corners of his bright, compressed lips, the piercing gaze of his blue eyes, flashing with a steel tint... And all the incredible strength raging in him, forcing his friends to respect him (and his enemies to reckon with him!) clearly showed in him a real Warrior, and in no case a helpless and soft-hearted God, which the Christian Church he hated so persistently tried to show him. And one more thing... He had an amazing smile, which, apparently, began to appear less and less often on his tired face, exhausted by heavy thoughts. But when she appeared, the whole world around her became kinder, warmed by its wonderful, boundless warmth. This warmth filled all the lonely, deprived souls with happiness!.. And it was in it that the real essence of Radomir was revealed! His true, loving Soul was revealed in him.
Radan (and it was clearly him) looked a little younger and more cheerful (although he was one year older than Radomir). He looked at the world joyfully and fearlessly, as if no misfortune simply could or had the right to touch him. As if any grief should have passed him by... He, undoubtedly, was always the soul of any meeting, illuminating it with his joyful, bright presence, wherever he was. The young man seemed to sparkle with some kind of joyful inner light, which disarmed young and old, forcing him to unconditionally love him and protect him as a most valuable treasure that comes to please the Earth once every thousand years. He was smiling and bright, like the summer sun, with a face covered in soft golden curls, and you wanted to look at him, admire him, forgetting about the cruelty and malice of the world around him...
The third “participant” of the small meeting was very different from both brothers... Firstly, he was much older and wiser. It seemed that he carried the entire unbearable weight of the Earth on his shoulders, somehow managing to live with it and not break down, at the same time, preserving kindness and love for the people around him in his broad soul. Next to him, adults seemed like stupid children who came to the wise Father for advice...

He was very tall and powerful, like a large indestructible fortress, tested by years of hard wars and troubles.... The look of his attentive gray eyes was prickly, but very kind, and the eyes themselves were striking in color - they were incredibly light and bright, as only in early youth, until they are overshadowed by black clouds of bitterness and tears. This powerful, warm man was, of course, the Magus John...
The boy, calmly sitting on the elder’s mighty lap, was thinking very intently about something, not paying attention to those around him. Despite his young age, he seemed very smart and calm, filled with inner strength and light. His face was concentrated and serious, as if the baby at that moment was solving some very important and difficult problem for himself. Just like his father, he was blond and blue-eyed. Only his facial features were surprisingly soft and gentle, more like his mother, Blessed Mary Magdalene.
The midday air around was dry and hot, like a hot furnace. Tired of the heat, the flies flocked to the tree, and lazily crawling along its immense trunk, buzzed annoyingly, disturbing the four interlocutors resting in the wide shade of the old plane tree. Under the kind, hospitably spread branches there was a whiff of pleasant greenery and coolness, the reason for which was the playful narrow stream running briskly right from under the roots of the mighty tree. Bouncing on every pebble and bump, he cheerfully splashed shiny transparent drops and ran on, pleasantly refreshing the surrounding space. With him next to you, you could breathe easily and cleanly. And people, protected from the midday heat, rested, enjoying the cool, precious moisture... It smelled of earth and herbs. The world seemed calm, kind and safe.

Radomir tried to save the Jews...

“I don’t understand them, Teacher...” Radomir said thoughtfully. – During the day they are soft, in the evening they are affectionate, at night they are predatory and insidious... They are changeable and unpredictable. How can I understand them, tell me! I cannot save the people without understanding them... What should I do, Teacher?
John looked at him very affectionately, like a father looks at his beloved son, and finally said in a deep, low voice:
– You know their speech - try to reveal it if you can. For speech is the mirror of their soul. This people were once cursed by our Gods, since they came here to destroy the Earth... We tried to help them by sending you here. And your Duty is to do everything to change their essence, otherwise they will destroy you... And then everyone else alive. And not because they are strong, but only because they are deceitful and cunning, and they strike us like a plague.
– They are far from me, Teacher... Even those who are friends. I can't feel them, I can't open their cold souls.
- Why then do we need them, dad? – suddenly joined the conversation of adults, a small “participant” of the meeting.

On December 4, 2009, the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of COMSTAR-UTS OJSC decided to elect a new board of directors of the company. The new board of directors includes:

1. Ulf Bakkmeyer, Deputy Director of the MTS – Russia business unit for finance of MTS OJSC;
2. Thomas Winkler, Vice President of the Telecommunications Assets business unit of AFK Sistema;
3. Mikhail Gerchuk, Vice President for Commerce of MTS OJSC,
4. Konstantin Markov, director of the Moscow macro-region of MTS OJSC;
5. Sergey Pridantsev, President of COMSTAR-UTS OJSC;
6. Yngve Rödling, Chairman of the Swedish-Russian/CIS Chamber of Commerce;
7. Michael Hecker, Vice President for Strategy and Corporate Development of MTS OJSC;
8. Thomas Holtrop, member of the board of directors of Gruner and Jahr;
9. Mikhail Shamolin, President of MTS OJSC.

Finance

The consolidated revenue of the Group of Companies for the first half of 2010 amounted to US$ 818.1 million, the OIBDA margin was 42%.

Infrastructure

As of July 2010, Comstar's international Internet network is connected to the global Internet at several major hubs in London, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Los Angeles and New York.

Subscriber base

In the second quarter of 2010, the number of Comstar pay TV subscribers in Moscow decreased to 121 thousand users against 133 thousand a year ago, the number of corporate users of broadband services over the same period decreased from 48 thousand to 45 thousand. In the alternative services segment communications of the Moscow region, which is represented by Comstar itself and its subsidiary Comstar-Direct (Stream trademark), the total number of subscribers of all types of communication services (fixed telephone communications, broadband access, long-distance and international communications) over the past 12 months decreased both among individuals - from 632 thousand to 568 thousand, and among corporate clients - from 29 thousand to 28 thousand.

In non-capital regions the picture is completely opposite. Over the 12 months from June 2009, the number of individual Comstar broadband subscribers increased by more than one and a half times, to 495 thousand people, the number of pay TV users also increased, although only by 5%, to 2.06 million. It became more in the regions and corporate broadband users: their number increased by 10%, to 30 thousand.

The subscriber base of COMSTAR-UTS in Moscow as of the end of the 2nd quarter of 2010 amounts to 3.6 million residential telephone subscribers, including 867 thousand residential broadband subscribers in the capital, as well as 2.7 million residential subscribers in the regions of Russia and the CIS, including 495 thousand residential broadband subscribers and 2.1 million pay television subscribers.

Development strategy

Comstar President Sergei Pridantsev is confident that the main growth potential of the subscriber base now lies in the regions. Therefore, the company intends to take special measures to promote services there. First of all, regional networks will be modernized by introducing fiber-to-the-building (FTTB) technology into them, which will increase the capacity and throughput of networks to provide users with higher data transfer speeds. By the end of 2010, it is planned to provide this technology to 80% of the 4.34 million households that have the ability to connect to the Comstar network in the regions.

There will also be a smooth transition of regional networks to work under the MTS brand to use the marketing potential of this well-known brand.

In the regions, Comstar intends to penetrate the apartments of potential users using pay TV, which, according to Pridantsev, is in great demand there. Then Comstar will offer other services to subscribers who have connected to this service - broadband access and telephone communications. However, there is a serious obstacle to the spread of broadband access outside the capital: the low prevalence of personal computers. Comstar intends to solve this problem by offering users special set-top boxes that allow them to access the Internet through a regular TV. Such a set-top box can be connected to any cable through which a television signal is delivered to the apartment, and then connected to the TV. The same cable is used to connect to the Internet access network. You can work with the set-top box by connecting a regular wired or wireless computer keyboard to it, while the TV screen serves as the monitor.

It is planned to rent out such set-top boxes to subscribers who have connected to broadband services at a symbolic price of 20 rubles. per month. Such a measure, according to Comstar, should attract those who already use pay TV to broadband services in the regions. Comstar intends to begin sales of Internet set-top boxes for televisions at the end of 2010 - the first half of 2011.

Story

2010: Joining MTS

In June 2010, the boards of directors of Mobile Telesystems (MTS) and Comstar - United TeleSystems recommended shareholders to carry out their reorganization by merging Comstar with MTS. The transaction will be submitted for consideration to extraordinary meetings of shareholders of both companies, which will be held on December 23, 2010.

The merger is planned to be carried out by converting Comstar shares into MTS shares, while for one Comstar share it will be possible to receive 0.825 MTS shares. This ratio implies a premium of 7.7% to the volume-weighted average for the last three months of the conversion rate of MTS ordinary shares into Comstar global depositary receipts (GDRs). One Comstar GDR corresponds to one of its ordinary shares.

Minority shareholders of Comstar have two options for what to do with their shares. MTS, if approved by the Federal Service for Stock Markets, plans to announce a voluntary offer to buy out 37.6 million shares of Comstar (9% of its authorized capital) at a price of $7.16 (220 rubles) per GDR. This price is 13.1% higher than the volume-weighted average market price of Comstar GDRs over the past three months. If the offer goes through, it will cost MTS $270 million. However, Finam Investment Company analyst Eldar Vagabov does not recommend Comstar shareholders accept the offer. “Taking into account the positive effect of the merger of companies, the offered premium does not seem to be sufficient compensation for exiting capital, so it is better to choose conversion into MTS shares,” says the analyst.

The offer is necessary for MTS in order to avoid the appearance of minority shareholders of Comstar who disagree with the reorganization, because in order to carry out the transaction it is necessary to obtain the consent of at least 75% of the shareholders of both companies. MTS now owns 62% of Comstar shares, and 52.9% of MTS shares belong to AFK Sistema. The size of the voluntary offer of 9% was calculated on the condition that AFK Sistema remain the controlling shareholder of MTS after the reorganization.

Shareholders of both Comstar and MTS, who will vote against the merger or will not take part in the voting at all, will be able to submit their securities for mandatory redemption if the reorganization does take place. The MTS Board of Directors set the buyout price at RUB 245.19. for one share of his company, the board of directors of Comstar - 212.85 rubles. respectively. The price at which the securities of dissenting Comstar shareholders will be purchased is 3.3% lower than the cost that MTS offers to Comstar shareholders as part of a voluntary offer. The cost of buying out shares of minority shareholders will amount to $1.03 billion.

The proposed transaction scheme was drawn up by a special committee of independent directors under the board of directors of Comstar, which made its conclusions based on Ernst & Young’s estimates regarding the repurchase price of shares of both companies. The legal advisor to MTS is Latham & Watkins, MTS is Linkleters. MTS's financial advisor is Goldman Sachs, and the conclusion on the fairness of the transaction was presented to the committee of independent directors of Comstar by J.P. Morgan.

MTS became the controlling shareholder of Comstar a year ago, having acquired 51% of the operator’s shares for $1.32 billion from its “parent” structure, AFK Sistema. In May 2010, it was announced that most Comstar services would be transferred under the MTS brand. True, there has still been no talk of a takeover of Comstar; moreover, MTS did not even make an offer to buy out shares from Comstar’s minority shareholders (the offer could have been refused due to the affiliation of the parties involved in the transaction). Now MTS has decided that the merger with Comstar will provide greater synergy than the initially planned $200 million, since it will allow MTS to directly provide pay television and broadband Internet access services.

The general director of the analytical agency Rustelecom, Yuri Bryukvin, calls the decision made correct. “Without a complete merger of companies, the unification of subscriber bases will be only virtual, and there will also be legal risks associated with the transfer of personal data of subscribers from one subsidiary to the parent company,” says Bryukvin. “But the course of events confirms the version that MTS’s deal with Comstar was initially planned to replenish the budgets of AFK Sistema, and only then did the company begin to think about carrying out full integration.”

MTS is copying the experience of VimpelCom, which in 2008 acquired 100% of the shares of Golden Telecom for $4.24 billion and immediately began merging companies, says CNews Analytics expert Alexander Moroshkin. “True, no one has experience in merging such huge structures, and the declared synergistic effect from the merger of Comstar with MTS was never achieved,” he recalls. “In the case of Comstar, integration will be even more difficult due to its confusing structure.”

Comstar-UTS announced the completion of work to modernize the communication center of its international IP network in Stockholm (Sweden). As part of the upgrade, a new high-performance Cisco ASR 9000 router was installed.

“The communication center in Stockholm is one of the most important for organizing the Comstar-UTS foreign IP network: it is one of Comstar’s gateways to the global Internet. Modernization of equipment allows the operator to create a better mechanism for providing services and guarantee uninterrupted operation of the communication network,” said Viktor Belov, director for development of service platforms and networks at Comstar-UTS. – In such projects, the choice of equipment supplier is important. Cisco's new high-performance platform will enable the European backbone segment to transition to new 100 Gigabit Ethernet transport technologies in the future."

Reason for abolition Successor Location

Russia Moscow

Key figures Turnover

▲ $1.562 billion (2007)

Operating profit

▲ $485 million (2007)

Net profit

▼ $44 million (2007)

Website

OJSC "COMSTAR - United TeleSystems"(Comstar - United Telesystems) is a Russian telecommunications company. Full name - Open Joint Stock Company "COMSTAR - United TeleSystems". Abbreviated in business terms as “Comstar-UTS”. Headquarters - in Moscow.

Owners and management

Major shareholders:

Since February 2006, 35% of the shares of COMSTAR - United TeleSystems are in circulation on the RTS, MSE and the London Stock Exchange. The company's capitalization as of June 2009 amounted to $1,914 million. USA.

In October 2009, AFK Sistema sold a controlling stake in Comstar (50.91%) to its subsidiary Mobile TeleSystems. The transaction amount was RUB 39.15 billion. MGTS Finance S.A. package (11.06%, Luxembourg) MTS exchanged for 1.6% of its treasury shares

Management

President of OJSC COMSTAR-UTS - Sergey Pridantsev (from June 2007 to March 1, 2011).

From March 1 to April 1, 2011, the acting President was Alexey Kaurov (Vice President for Economics and Finance).

The chairman of the company's board of directors is Ron Sommer.

Symbolism

During its history, the company had two logos:

In 2004-2006 there was a logo with the word “COMSTAR” and a red tooth, below to the left of the letter “S” is the word “UNITED”, to the right of the letter “S” is the word “TELESYSTEMS”.
From 2006 to 2010 - a dark blue square with an egg, next to a dark blue square with the word “COMSTAR” (in 2010 there was a gradual move away from an independent brand).

Until 2011, all regional companies (including the companies of the STREAM-TV group, transferred to the Stream brand in 2007) were planned to be transferred under the single Comstar brand. However, on October 13, 2009, MTS announced the purchase of a controlling stake (50.91%) of Comstar, and subsequently, on May 11, 2010, Comstar and MTS announced the transition to a single MTS brand.

By the end of 2011, two brands remained on the Russian market within the MTS Group of Companies (including MTS, COMSTAR-UTS, MGTS) - MTS and MGTS.

Activity

The company's share (data from Advanced Communications & Media Consulting) in the Moscow broadband market (1st quarter) is 30%.

A subsidiary of Comstar-UTS, Comstar-Direct CJSC (formerly MTU-Intel), provided dial-up and broadband Internet access services using ADSL technology under the Stream brand based on the MGTS public data network.

Comstar - Direct

CJSC COMSTAR-Direct (until December 13, 2006 - CJSC MTU-Intel) - a large Russian Internet operator, a subsidiary of COMSTAR-UTS, on April 1, 2011, merged, like the parent company, with MTS OJSC.

Story

MTU-Intel was formed in 1993 as JSC Interlink Holding (later renamed), and on March 1, 1999, began providing dial-up access services to the international network (having received the right to do so from MTU-Inform). On September 18, 2001, the telecommunications operator PTT-Teleport Moscow, which belonged to it, was merged with MTU-Intel CJSC (since 2000, it had been developing an ADSL access project in Moscow for corporate subscribers under the Tochka Ru brand).

After this reorganization, shares in the authorized capital of Comstar-Direct CJSC were distributed as follows:

OJSC Comstar-UTS - 51.819%;
OJSC Sistema Mass Media - 48.136%;
CJSC Sistema-Inventure - 0.045%.

To further develop the Stream brand and bring it to the broadband Internet access market in Russian regions, AFK Sistema, which controlled all three shareholders of Comstar Direct, began to develop ideas for reorganizing the company, ultimately deciding to keep it, transferring all 100% of the shares of OJSC Comstar-UTS. At the same time, during the reorganization, many top managers left the company during the summer of 2007. On December 30, 2008, 100% of the shares of Comstar-Direct were consolidated by COMSTAR-UTS.

On April 1, 2011, the Comstar-Direct company, as well as Comstar-UTS, became part of the MTS OJSC company.

Achievements

During the period of independent activity, before renaming to Comstar-Direct, MTU-Intel achieved recognition as an Internet provider:

Activity

COMSTAR-Direct provided broadband Internet access service using ADSL technology, as well as digital interactive IP television services under the STREAM brand based on the MGTS public data network.

Formally, COMSTAR-Direct CJSC owned the STREAM trademark. At the same time, 100% servicing of STREAM service subscribers was provided by COMSTAR-UTS.

Comstar-Regions

In February 2010, Comstar-regions for 220 million rubles. acquired a 100% stake in the authorized capital of the Yaroslavl telecom operator TensorTelecom LLC, the second provider in terms of market share in the city of Yaroslavl (22% at the time of acquisition, 23 thousand subscribers).

In January 2011, ten more regional companies were merged with Comstar-Regions CJSC: Nizhny Novgorod CJSC Sendi Info and TSN CJSC, NPO Vidis CJSC (Dzerzhinsk), Tversvyazinform CJSC, Regional Cable Networks CJSC (Moscow), CJSC Esta Telecom (Kaluga), CJSC Mark TV (Izhevsk), CJSC Trunk (Astrakhan), CJSC TV-Maidan Television Company (Rostov-on-Don), CJSC Infotek ( Ekaterinburg) .

Management

As part of the merger of Comstar with MTS OJSC, top managers of MTS came to the management of COMSTAR-Regions CJSC: on March 1, 2011, the director of the MTS-Russia business unit, Alexander Popovsky, was appointed general director of the company, and commercial director - Dmitry Bagdasaryan, Director for Development of Regional Fixed Business of the MTS Russia Business Unit

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