Amigo versus Bite, the unfucked version

That's a pretty harsh title, but it describes what I want to present here in English on my personal blog. The story of the latest war of the gagoons as I translate the curious Latvian phrase gāganu kari got severely fucked up in the LETA/Nozare.lv editorial process, either by a technical or editorial failure. The essence of the story, abot how two mobile operators got out the long knives in Latvia over what was a comparison of  differently derived ARPU (average revenue per user) figures from 2009 got the hatchet. The story was reduced, without explaining the core of the problem,  to  a tale of one side suing the other after the other denounced the former to the Latvian Consumer Rights Protection Centre (CRPC). The date for that event seemed very important, not the core of the conflict.

Amigo, the brand under which Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT)  subsidiary Zetcom operates, came out with an ad saying that ARPU for Bite Latvija was LVL 8.86  per month, and only LVL  3.56  per month for Amigo. Which is why Bite's claims of having a "zero tariff" (which they do, on their own network) was wrong, and one should choose Amigo, which charges 1,5 santims per minute on its network as the lowest tariff for prepaid customers calling "friends" ( a limited circle) on the Amigo network (runs on the LMT net).

ARPU is only indirectly related to specific consumer tariffs, it is more an indicator of corporate health (if reasonably high) than anything else. Low ARPU can be interpreted as a bad sign. Excessive ARPU, compared to the market, is a signal of poor competition. This is what I tried to explain in the story. This is what vanished from the text, along with some Bite and Amigo tariff figures. There was also a bit of what the Brits would call a cockup with emails between the editorial process and me, so I basically had to run the story out very fast, without restoring the deleted/butchered?  parts.

I also explained in the story that ARPU comparisons only make sense among operators with a like set of services (including income from roaming, mobile internet, whatever, that doesn't affect the ordinary customer). Amigo, as Bite rightly pointed out, is making an incorrect comparison. For this, as I dod get across in the lead of the story, Amigo/Zetcom is suing Bite and asking it to retract its statement that it is wrong to compare different things as if they were alike. Well, maybe in Latvia you can find a judge for that...

In any case, this simply continues the rather bizarre tradition of courtrooms and consumer protection agencies as marketing battlegrounds for Latvian mobile telecoms operators. Last summer it was LMT' s pre-paid Okarte against Tele2' s Golden Fish, each represented by Gumby-like characters in TV commercials. That bogged down the CRPC for a while. This one will keep the lawyers busy. The sum of it all is that someone has to step aside with their leaking winter boots (footware is tha main consumer problem brought before the CRPC) and wait for the corporations to finish their fight.

Latvian Mobile Telephone to launch 4G demo on June 7

Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT) will launch a demonstration of 4G mobile technology on June 7, according to an invitation sent to the press.
According to information available to this blogger, the actual test network will be set up in another Latvian city, but announced at a press event in the capital, Riga.
Your blogger will probably be on site at the actual test location. 
LMT will be the first Latvian mobile operator to launch a 4G test with speeds up to 100 Mbps, although the others -- Tele2 and Bite, have indicated serious interest in deploying the technology.
LMT is 60% directly and indirectly owned by Sweden's TeliaSonera, which launched 4G in Sweden and Norway late last year.
A commercial launch of 4G in Latvia is several years off because of unresolved problems with licences and frequency allocation. 
Lattelecom, the fixed network operator owned 49% by TeliaSonera is also running a low-key project to explore 4G possibilities.

Lattelecom looking to LTE for its mobile side?

Lattelecom, the Latvian fixed network operator owned 49 % by Sweden's TeliaSonera, may be looking in the medium term to build out a 4G or LTE (Long-Term Evolution) mobile internet network (with voice capability).
With the future of telecoms privatization in Latvia stalled and highly politicized, there is a good chance that in the next three to five years, Lattelecom could end up sold or owned seperately from its distant sister company, mobile operator LMT. Both companies have done little or no cross-selling or integration of their products.
Without some kind of mobile business, any modern telco operator that doesn't want to be a mere ISP (and even an ISP with national coverage) is hobbled. In the medium term, LTE, which hasn't even been allocated frequencies in Latvia, is a viable option. Latvia's mobile operators -- Bite and Tele2 -- have indicated they will go for LTE and its up to 100 Mbps internet speed at some point. Tele2 in Sweden is launching LTE next year together with Telenor, as is LMT's parent TeliaSonera.
Lattelecom is already cooperating with wireless/mobile internet provider Triatel (the mobile internet offering is still in the works) which runs an EV DO network countrywide and offers an unspectacular download speed of 3.6 Mbps (compared to 3.6 Mbps on the GSM/UMTS operators HSDPA networks, with 14.4 Mbps promised soon by Bite).
The Latvian government has yet to allocate frequencies for LTE, but this will happen in 2010. As far as Lattelecom and LMT goes, it still remains for the Latvian government to (as I wrote to the great amusement of a high executive in the Nordic telecoms industry) to unfuck itself on the issue of privatization (i.e. a sale to TeliaSonera of at least all of LMT). With 2010 an election year, this is unlikely, but in 2011, with yet another round of drastic budget cuts upcoming, Latvia may be ready for anyone tossing coins into its begging bowl.

Latvia looks to improve mobile services procurement

Sorry to be a bit late with this, but on May 13, Tele2 organized a round table discussion gathering almost all players in the procurement of mobile services for the public sector in Latvia. Present were representatives of the host, Tele2, LMT, Bite, Baltkom, the State Auditor (Ingūna Sudraba in person), the Procurement Oversight Authority, the State Chancellery, the City of Riga, the Latvian Telecommunications Association and others.

After hearing complaints that procurement was biased toward certain players (implied was LMT), and that the state could save at least LVL 4 million by doing things differently, including regular reviews of tariffs and shorter contract periods (Bite's Fred Hrenchuk pointed out that no private business would ever lock itself into a 60 month or five year contract when mobile services prices were dropping month on month).

Jānis Lelis, managing director of the Latvian Telecommunications Association, said that mobile service consumers (including the public sector) need to be educated about their options, which would help them make considerable savings. He gave an example (naming no names) where the association had advised a customer to go to another operator and get an offer. The offer was for a substantial cut in costs, but the customer then brought the offer to his existing services provider and got an even better deal.

This confirmed my suspicions that Tele2 and perhaps Bite -- while their claims of lower tariffs are quite true -- are often used as bargaining chips by LMT customers to -- at the end of the day -- squeeze better deals from LMT. This doesn't mean that Petras Kirdeika, the managing director of Tele2 in Latvia is wrong in saying (as he has for about a year) that he can cut the public sector mobile bill by 30%.  He probably can. The incumbent, with some grinding of teeth, can probably offer 33 % (or some other package -- like free calls to all users from the same government agency) and keep the customer.

The most interesting outcome of the discussion was general agreement with Ms. Sudraba that public authorities could purchase mobile services according to one basic standard and possibly under one umbrella agreement rather than drafting tender rules and standards for each and every ministry, state agency and municipality. It would also avoid drafting unreasonable standards - such as 95 % national coverage for services to be used largely within a single municipality.  As Bite's Hrenchuk asked rhetorically: " Why do they need coverage near the Russian border?" (referring to a town a couple of hundred kilometers from the border zone.

It now appears that some kind of working group will be formed to work out how umbrella standards and procedures could be drafted for mobile (and telecommunications services in general) procurement. This would move Latvia toward the models used in other countries, such as Sweden's authority for coordinating state purchases. 

Vodafone sharing toys with its fattening calf in Latvia

Vodafone will share its high-speed HSDPA+MIMO technology with Bite, the Latvian mobile operator. Tests show that this (for all practical purposes) 3.5 G technology can achieve data rates of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps). Fred Hrenchuk, who heads Bite Latvia told the LETA news agency the technology could be tested in Latvia later this year or in early 2010.
If the high speed link (to be deployed in urban areas with intensive business use) is implemented, it will be the fastest mobile internet technology in the Baltics. Tele2, another regional and pan-European player, has offered 21 Mbps HSDPA in Sweden.
A new technology also stirs up the market competition, which has, of late, drifted into competing quasi flat-rate low pricing schemes with similar marketing ("call your bunny rabbit, talk all you want to your honeybunch) and that sort of thing.
For me, the most significant thing about this is that it is yet another signal that Bite (the Bite Group including Lithuania) is probably being fattened for a takeover by Vodafone at some point. Why else would the global mobile services player be sharing its best toys with the rapidly maturing kid on the Baltic block? Sort of like the Latvian folk song about waiting for the girl across the river to grow up, so she can be married. Did I get that right? Or something to that effect...

What may happen in 2009

Any of my Latvian-speaking readers may recognize this as a slight re-hash of what I wrote on my Latvian-language blog. However, having woken up at an early jet-lagged (or jet-pushed, as I am "ahead" and waking at 0530 after going to bed around 2230) hour here in the US, I will share some thoughts on what may be ahead in Latvian telecoms in 2009.

The government (or whatever government is in charge) will continue to endlessly drag its feet on the privatization of Lattelecom and mobile operator LMT. With the financial markets globally in a shambles and share prices down to rock-bottom, it is unlikely that anyone will pay or get a good price for either Latvian operator. The offer made by TeliaSonera to pay over 500 million LVL for the remaining state stakes in both companies would have been the deal of the decade. The Latvian government simply blew it. On this issue, there is no direction home (as Bob Dylan put it).

Lattelecom, meanwhile, will be very busy. It has to start its DSL to FTTH conversion (offering 100 Mbps to internet subscribers, instead of the present 10 Mbps) that will replace copper with fiber over the next three years for most Lattelecom internet users. The other project it will have to start immediately is setting up a digital terrestrial television network across the country. It won a tender for this project to convert the national television broadcast system to digital by 2011(?). The company has experience putting together a program package for its IP television service (which does not have a spectacular number of users, though it is growing), but terrestrial broadcast could be something new for it.

Meanwhile, cable operator IZZI will be boosting its internet services network to deliver 100 Mbps as well. What will Baltcom do?

The mobile operators, after a winter of advertising how easy it is to have "heartfelt conversations" with you darling kitten or beary-poo (the latest marketing campaigns by Bite and LMT have this kind of stuff), may get back to some real competition. One area for re-slicing the market could be government and local government, where Tele2 has been repeatedly claiming it can cut phone costs for such organizations by up to 30%. Now that we are starting a year (0r several) of santims-pinching, it may be worth a try to check out whether Tele2 can come up with the goods.

Triatel, the CDMA and EVDO wireless internet operator, will still be looking for a buyer (this has been a low-key story for some months) but will face the same market conditions as everyone. Not a good idea to sell itself on the cheap. Oh, and I think the CDMA voice business is no big deal, it is the rural wireless internet coverage that may make this company attractive.

On wireless/mobile internet, look for everyone in the Latvian mobile space to jump to 14.4 Mbps by the end of the year, perhaps to the HSDPA on steroids of 21 Mbps (Tele2 is doing it in Sweden).  2010 or 2011 may see some attempts at LTE on the Latvian market, or what will be left after the economic ravages many people are expecting.

At last, the light is sweating (Latvian- gaismiņa svīst) here in Newton, MA, so I may get back to this topic later.  Now  a shower and some breakfast. 

Rumors of LBS and an unhappy "bee"

This from the rumor circuit - Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT) is getting closer to launching location-based services (LBS). At least some of them would be based on Google Maps - showing mobile phone users nearby shops, restaurants and the like.

All mobile operators in Latvia have to do some degree of locating in order to meet EU requirements for emergency calls, but LMT appears to be the first to be developing a commercial platform.  The business model is that LMT will set up the necessary IT infrastructure and then partner with location-related third-party content providers on some kind of revenue-sharing basis.

While location for emergency purposes is compulsory, any commercial LBS will be by consent, although it is likely that LMT and other operators will market these rather aggressively, stressing that one or the other has the "locally-smartest"  phone.

LBS gaming may be another feature of the LMT offering, but just what that is I am unsure :).

Bite rebrands

Meanwhile Bite presented its rebranded image -- springlike colors, a different logo (a leaf? a balloon?) minus the weird Lithuanian ė -- as well as the abolition of one-off call connection charges, so-called asterisked (*) clauses and fine print as well as charges for switching or turning on and off of certain services (incoming call numbers, etc.). All of this is based on some intensive customer surveys, focus groups, etc. and one can reasonably say it is what most or many customers want. It is something that Bite hopes will increase customer loyalty more than it will have folks stampeding from other operators.

Peeved about charges

Bite is also upset that Tele2 and LMT seem to be charging their customers more for calls to Bite numbers than for calls to each other and related pre-paid services. Bite will probably make a public issue of this, although the wholesale tariff structure (so-called termination charges which operators clear with each other) and its relationship to the tariffs customers pay is somewhat complex and non-obvious. More, perhaps, on this later.  

Tele2 open to Lattelecom on its network

Tele2 in Latvia is open to the idea of Lattelecom starting a virtual mobile operator on its network, Tele2 Latvia CEO Petras Kirdeika told this blogger.

Kirdeika said Tele2 would consider a commercially viable proposal from Lattelecom or any other operator wishing to lease part of Tele2's mobile network.

He said that the company would also be ready to negotiate a co-financing agreement if Lattelecom's (or another operator's) needs required the building of additional network capacity.

In reporting its third-quarter results, Tele2 said it had built a record 50 base stations across the country during the period.

Lattelecom CEO Nils Melngailis has said that if the company succeeds with its MBO, it will have to move quickly to offer mobile services in addition to fixed line telephony and internet. Bite Latvija, which has hitherto been open to virtual operators, effectively declared a moratorium on new actors on its network after being purchased by  Mid Europa Partners, a private equity company. Kenneth Campbell, CEO of the Bite Group, told this blogger (as reported in the magazine Kapitāls), that Bite's priority was to strengthen its own brand. 

He let it be understood that Lattelecom was such potentially strong brand that it could not be allowed to cannibalize Bite's potential and existing customers.

Bite doubles HSDPA speed in Latvia

Bite Latvija, the Latvian unit of the mobile services operator Bite Group, will soon boost the speed of its HSDPA mobile broadband service to 7.2 Mbps from the current 3.6 Mbps (both maximum speeds under optimal conditions). Next year, Bite will most likely jump the speed of its HSDPA service to 14.4 Mbps. At these speeds, the service will be a competitor to Lattelecom's DSL services, which have a maximum speed of 10 Mbps (in the HomeDSL plus IPTV package, with TV eating up some of the bandwidth when in use). Lattelecom has installed ADSL2+ DSLAMs that can deliver 24 Mbps under ideal conditions, but my sources say this is being saved for when Lattelecom launches some kind of HD TV service (probably video on demand).
My talk with Fred Hrenchuk, the recently appointed CEO of Bite Latvija is here:

Click To Play

Soft launch for Baltkom's mobile service

Baltkom, the cable TV and telephony company that launched, developed and sold the Latvian mobile operator now known as Tele2, will re-enter the mobile market with a soft launch of its virtual services on the Bite network during the fall.
Tariffs on the new service will closely match those offered by Bite and will include mobile internet (HSDPA), which the Bite network offers in Riga and several other Latvian cities.
The new service, which will be part of a Quattro package (cable TV, cable internet, fixed and mobile telephone) or sold seperately, will start without any fanfare, probably as an offer to existing Baltkom customers (there are more the 170 000 cable TV subscribers). Once the services are accepted and proven to work for existing customers, a wider marketing campaign and announcement will be made.
This, according to my source.

A Latvian race for user-generated mobile content?

Just a short note before I fly off to the States: Amigo, the virtual operator using Latvian Mobite Telephone's (LMT) network, has launched a feature that pays users for their multimedia content (MMS images, video, ringtones, etc.) Payment is up to LVL 0.20 per item downloaded (presumably as Amigo pre-paid credit for use when calling). Launched amid some fanfare, the Amigo service pays more than a similar user-generated deal on Bite (which pays only up to LVL 0.04 per download). Apparently, both services believe that a critical mass of multimedia capable phones has appeared among Latvia's nearly 2 million mobile phone users (including large numbers of pre-paids). The Bite offer has not been widely publicized.

Bite talks about mobile entertainment

I recently did an e-mail interview with Šarunas Čomentauskas, marketinga manager of the BITĖ Group regarding their plans for mobile entertainment. This was research for an article I did for Kapitāls, the Latvian language business magazine that is part of the LETA group of information services companies that I work for. It is interesting enough to publish here (also easy, since our correspondence was in English).

Meanwhile, Zetcom, the company behind virtual operator Amigo (phone cards of the same name, use Latvian Mobile Telephone/LMT's network) announced a scheme to pay up to LVL 0.20 for downloads of user-generated content for mobile phones. This tops what Bite offers for its Foto Bazaar -- LVL 0.04. The Amigo platform is called Multivide.

Due to a copy-past from a Windows Word file, this could look a little strange...

What are the user statistics for Bite Plus, your mobile entertainment portal?

We have about 25 thousand unique users per month. Each of them opens up on average 59 pages per month.

What is the most frequently purchased service?

We have our own content and provided content. In total draugiem.lv and one.lv services (social networks for Latvian and Russian speakers, respectively) are absolute leaders. Concerning BITE content – games and polyphonic melodies are the most popular products, and they are 3 times more popular then true tone melodies.

Is it true that ringtones and games sales are not doing well (across the industry in Latvia/Baltics) because of piracy?

One.lv has largely left this kind of business and is using mobile for transactions and access related to its social network.

Popularity of games is growing significantly. Since the start of the year the usage of games has grown by more then 3 times. Certainly it is partly connected to BITE customers’ base growth, but people still like games on their phones.

What is the future trend -- mobile TV, mobile/online communities. a shift to user rather than commercially generated content?

Certainly there is a recent trend for user generated content. We have just recently introduced Foto Bazaar service – gallery with user’s generated pictures, where users can upload their pictures and share them publicly. New service is a unique possibility for TOXIC users which can even earn money 0.04 Ls for each picture downloaded by other Foto Bazaar user.

However we think commercial content will not disappear at all, it might become more localized. We also observe a new trend in the market - free content, which is supported by advertisement.

What will be the impact of eventual flat rate or near flat rate service?

BITE already offers flat rate services and we see that the customers like this approach. Flat rate allows to users have easier control on their expenses and they feel more secure when paying a certain fee monthly.

When most phones are HSDPA capable, will there be any boundaries between mobile entertainment and commercialized internet entertainment generally? That is, if I have paid a subscription (maybe by mobile banking) to "Sports TV" does it matter if I watch it over flat rate DSL on my PC, flat rate HSDPA on my laptop or the same HSDPA on my mobile (OK, maybe the system detects the device and adjusts the stream and/or download format to the screen).

We think that there is a big opportunity for services specially designed for mobile usage. Not just internet copy-paste services, but specially designed services for mobile phones. Certainly, mobile and internet integration will continue to grow, but in mobiles can gain more by providing unique mobile based services.

James Enck shuts it down and other matters

A blogger that I often read, James Enck in his EuroTelcoBlog, has announced that he is closing it down because of a major job change. James is leaving his post at Daiwa in London apparently to join a high powered Wall Street team (he doesn't say who). For one reason or another, blogging is not part of the game where he is going, though he doesn't exclude that he could reappear in the blogosphere. I enjoyed reading James from time to time and took note of his interest in FTTx solutions, probably the only way that fixed-line operators can stay significantly ahead in the bandwidth and speed categories. Best of luck to James at his new position.
I also shuffled through some statistics from the Latvian Telecommunications Association on market shares on the total voice (fixed and mobile) market. Tele2 is the biggest by a slight margin (in terms of users) with 32.4 % in 2006, followed by Latvian Mobile Telephone (LMT) at 31.8 % . Lattelecom had 21.1 %. The total market grew, however, by 14.6 % and the share of "other" voice providers grew to 14.7 % of the market from 4.7 % in 2005. Most of this growth is due to the appearance of Bite as a serious competitor during the year. In early 2007, they chalked up user 200 000, a person in the town of Jelgava who got 200 000 free minutes on the Bite network as a prize.
What is a bit confusing is that there is certainly some duplication of users -- most mobile users are also on the Lattelecom net, if not as voice callers from home, then as DSL subscribers (there are more than 100 000 of them). Also, fixed voice is folding into internet. Many of the 100 000 + DSL subscribers and those using other internet services are surely using Skype a lot. Skype says Latvia is one of the densest user locations relative to population.
In essence, except for charge by the minute mobile calling, the voice market is relatively meaningless as voice becomes a feature of flat-rate internet. In a few years, as reasonably priced flat-rate mobile internet spreads, voice (mobile Skype and the like) will also become a feature of this service. So soon, there will be little reason to talk about voice :).

Maarten van Engeland leaving Bite

Maarten van Engeland, CEO of the Lithuanian-Latvian Bite Group, has resigned his post at the mobile operator effective March 2. He cites personal reasons, which rings (and is) very true, since Bite, especially in Latvia, has been doing very well. (We all know that it is often better PR for all concerned to have the CEO of a sick company go on "personal reasons" rumored to be a sick aunt, but this is definitely not the case here). Bite, with 197 000 users in Latvia, including the customers of several virtual operators using the Bite network, is doing quite well for a third operator. It was among the first to launch HSDPA in Riga and several cities outside Riga (LMT beat them by a couple of weeks in terms of just turning on the service). Bite is credited with increasing competition in the Latvian mobile market and creating a base for a variety of boutique virtual services (such as 5 +, catering to middle-aged Russian-speakers). It is also presenting a broad offering on the mobile television and music side.
So, to Maarten, good luck as you step off a tight ship sailing on a steady course!
Maarten will be replaced by James Jackson, a man with a background in East European telecoms until a permanent CEO is found.

Shoveling the grave of pay-per-minute mobile

Bite announced it will be possible to call Skype addresses from any Bite mobile phone by sending an SMS and getting the call connected (as a kind of call back). The connection will cost LVL 0.06 and the call LVL 0.40 for 10 minutes. However, once more mobile phones are WiFi or internet capable, and someone figures out how to put Skype on these (Symbian) phones, the era of no-charge calling on a fixed fee mobile broadband connection will start.

Its been a busy day, so I am letting Darius Montvila, a Bite deputy honcho, tell the story:

Bite may announce Skype functionality

Bite has called a press conference for Tuesday, February 6 and it looks like they may announce a new Skype-linked function. In other words, Bite users will be able to make Skype calls to computers and phones (? not sure of this) by indirectly using a SkypeOut type of function. The feature will be apparently triggered by SMS (sending the Skype address) and then talking for something close to the SkypeOut rate for that country. So far, the geeks at Skype have yet to come up with Skype for Symbian, which they said they would have "soon" a year ago at 3GSM World in Barselona. We're still waiting. Maybe the pickpockets and thieving lowlife for which that city is notorious stole the code in progress?
Anyway, the great thing about this feature is that it drops the cost of calling home to a Skyper in Latvia and, perhaps, for calling from anywhere to a Skyper anywhere else. But we shall see...

Softphones coming to Latvia?

Lattelecom and at least one mobile operator are considering the introduction of softphone solutions. This means that when the "ordinary" landline or mobile phone rings, it would also ring a softphone on a PC or laptop. One advantage to this is that the local line would be portable across the internet, to practically anywhere in the world. Estonia's Elion has something like this already. It would also make the home landline phone portable to, say, a summer house or second residence with an internet connection. Rumor has it that Bite might be the first to introduce such a service.

Bite in good hands, probably

Well, I am back in Riga, but not my luggage (delay in Amsterdam) nor a bag of Target purchases (left at my parents' house).
The news I missed (but anticipated) was the sale of the Bite Group for EUR 450 million to Mid Europa Partners, a private equity group. They are sufficiently transparent so that one can see they have experience in managing telecom assets. That's good news, also a signal that telecoms are of considerable interest to those who make money with their money (private equity) rather than put their money into just telecoms for one reason or another. In other words, the sector is looking bright again.
Not so bright, or non-existant are the chances that Lattelecom could acquire a mobile operator. It was in talks about Bite, but -- probably wisely-- decided not to try to outbid the private equity folks. That leaves Lattelecom with the alternative of joining the merry bunch of virtual operators (I see Telekomunikaciju Grupa -- TG-- has joined the party) mostly hosted on Bite's network.
Next interesting question -- what will happen to the (temporary?) half-mother of Lattelecom, TeliaSonera. The recent boardroom changes reported in the Swedish press are interpreted as foreboding changes in top management, perhaps ahead of a sale of most or all of the remaining state shares in TeliaSonera. The insatiable private equity funds will be out there waiting, I am sure.

Update:
Sweden's Dagens Nyheter calls the January 17 changes in TeliaSonera's boardroom "the most brutal in Swedish corporate history. Board members Carl Bennet, Eva Liljebom, Lennart Låftman, Lars-Erik Nilsson and Sven-Christer Nilsson were voted out and replaced on smaller board by Lars G Nordström, Conny Karlsson, Maija-Liisa Friman and Jan Risfelt. The move is seen by analysts as a purge of board members seen as close to the Social Democratic movement and, thereby, opposed to complete privatization of the company. A sell-off of TeliaSonera has been in the cards since the non-socialist government was formed in the fall of 2006.

Lattelecom looks to plan B or Plan C on mobiles

I'll make this quick as I am up to my arse (the British spelling) in alligators at work because I am heading off to the US tommorrow and have to finish several things.
It looks pretty much like Lattelecom will have to implement plan B (a virtual mobile operator) or plan C (waiting for mobile WiMax). Denmark's TDC will be selling the Bite Group in the next couple of weeks, either to a private equity group or another, big telecom player. Lattelecom could afford to, but is unlikely to pay the close to EUR 500 million one is probably talking about.
Plan B is not so bad, Bite welcomes all comers. The only stumbling block (aside from what strange ideas the new owners of Bite, whoever they will be, may get) are Telia Sonera's objections to Lattelecom going into the mobile market anything less than a year after it will be traded back to 100 % government ownership.
This is silly, as TeliaSonera will then become 100 % owner of Latvian Mobile Telephone, which, in terms of revenues and profitability, is the MMFITV. This is from an sacriligious version of the 23rd Psalm-- Yea (this is not a cheering yea, it is a Biblical "yea") though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for I am the Meanest Motherfucker in The Valley. " As the MMFITV of the Latvian mobile market, LMT doesn't need this shit, it can do fine against Bite/Lattelecom without TeliaSonera's help.
Oh, and by the way, the word is out that TeliaSonera is on the selling block as well with the same crowd of Telefonica, France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and the private equity money gathering for the sale.