Altimo buys Sotelco

According to a report by C.News, Russian investment company Altimo, part of the powerful Alfa Group, has bought a 90% stake in Sotelco, a Cambodian GSM-900/1800 and WiMAX licensee. Altimo has not reported the price it paid, nor the seller’s name. According to a person familiar with the situation, Altimo will resell the stake to its mobile operating arm Vimpelcom. Little is known of Sotelco; it is though likely that it was granted its wireless concession only recently and has not yet become operational. At present there are three wireless operators in Cambodia: CamGSM (owned by Millicom International Cellular), Cambodia Shinawatra (owned by the Thai Shin Corp) and Telekom Malaysia International Cambodia.