GNCC fines MegaFon

The Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) has fined Russia-based MegaFon for illegally providing services in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. According to Prime-TASS, the GNCC has fined MegaFon’s subsidiary in the North Caucasus, Mobicom-Caucasus, GEL5,000 (USD3,500). The move comes after Georgia’s pro-Western government alleged that Moscow is effectively annexing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two regions which fought separatist wars with Georgia in the 1990s and now run their own affairs with support from Russia, states Reuters. MegaFon denies intentionally operating on Georgian territory, saying it can not stop people from accessing its services from base stations in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic. Georgian cellcos MagtiCom and Geocell claim they have suffered ‘significant’ losses as a result of MegaFon’s ‘unlicensed operations’ in South Ossetia since 2004.