KIEV (WiMAX Day). The Ukraine subsidiary of Russian alternative telecom operator Golden Telecom has found itself in dispute with the Ukraine National Commission for Regulation of Communications (NCRC) over its 2.3 GHz spectrum.

In July 2006, Golden Telecom acquired S-Line, a shell company that in 2005 received a national license for 2.3 ~ 2.4 GHz spectrum. The license was awarded to S-Line for a reported $200,000 without tender, and since then the spectrum has not been used.

Earlier this month the NCRC informed Golden Telecom that the 2.3 GHz license would be revoked because the company failed to register the new address of the license following the acquisition of S-Line. Under Ukraine law, the transfer of the legal address for a license must be reported within 30 days.

Golden Telecom immediately filed a suit against the NCRC in the Economic Court of Kiev to draw a halt to the revocation of its license. The Court was set to hear the case on 22 February, but the hearing has been delayed until March. In the meantime, the Court banned the NCRC from taking any action against S-Line or issuing new licenses.

General Manager steps down
In the midst of these regulatory squabbles, it was reported yesterday in Kommersant that Andrei Droniuk, the General Manager of Golden Telecom in Kiev, will step down from his position and will be re-assigned to the role of advisor to the vice president “on the development of international and regional business cooporations.”

The reason for the change of command was not given by Golden Telecom, except that Droniuk now “will be in charge of licensing for the company S-Line” and improving relations with the NCRC.

Competition increases in Ukraine
With few WiMAX frequencies available in Ukraine, many operators have been vying to gain licenses. The only operator of WiMAX services in the country is Ukraine High Technologies (UHT), which was granted a national license of 300 MHz in the 3.4–3.6 GHz spectrum in 2005.

In November 2006, the Ukraine subsidiary of Russia’s Comstar-UTS was awarded licenses for 5.4 ~ 5.7 GHz frequencies in the Odessa, Lvov, and Kiev regions of Ukraine. Comstar, a unit of Moscow-based AFK Sistema Group, reportedly has begun to deploy its network in Ukraine, and is already building a substantial WiMAX network in Russia.

Commitment to WiMAX
Following the acquisition of S-Line last year, Golden Telecom stated its intention to develop WiMAX in Ukraine. The company already owns the third-largest GSM network in Ukraine, as well as leased-line Internet services. Golden Telecom also operates the largest WiFi network in Russia, and in November 2006 the company applied to the State Commission of Radio Frequencies (GKRCh) in Moscow for licenses of 2.5 ~ 2.7 GHz spectrum for use with WiMAX. The company has not yet been awarded such licenses in Russia.

Golden Telecom is an integrated telecommunications and Internet services company with operations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. According to company reports, for the second quarter of 2006, Golden Telecom reported revenue of $ 197 million, and net profit of $ 22.6 million. The main shareholders of Golden Telecom include Telenor of Norway (20%), Russia’s Alfa Group (29%) and Rostelecom (11%).