Rostelecom to merge its consumer division with Tele2 Russia

Russian state-backed telecoms giant Rostelecom has decided to merge its consumer (B2C) division with its mobile network operator subsidiary Tele2 Russia, according to a letter from Rostelecom President Mikhail Oseevsky to colleagues which was shared online via Telegram channels and confirmed by a TelecomDaily source within the national telco. According to TelecomDaily, the letter specifies that Rostelecom will form a single B2C cluster (comprising all the telco’s mass market fixed broadband/fixed voice/pay-TV/MVNO mobile/other services plus Tele2’s entire operations) – representing about 60% of current group revenues – with a unified management structure and integrated marketing. The letter specifies that the new B2C division will include sub-segments such as ‘digital products’ (video surveillance, smart home services and others) and over-the-top (OTT) online cinema/interactive TV services.