Telecom--Investment--Ukrtelecom

The government is taking steps to make the local telecommunications monopoly more attractive to investors. UNIAN-News from Ukraine

Ukrtelecom is the state owned telecommunications monopoly that was due to be sold this year. The sale was delayed for some reason probably political. (There was some talk about keeping some strategic assets in government hands--that could have been it.) It is a company like any other state company, bloated, inefficient and with customer service not much different than you would get from the local office of bureaucrats. (Actually, these are bureaucrats. Duh.)

And they are faced with some pretty good competition these days. It takes from 6 months to a year last time I checked to get a telephone installed by Ukrtelecom and you have to go to their offices to order it up. But a local company called Golden Telecom will come to your house, sign you up, and after you pay their deposit, about $50, you get your phone in about 2 weeks. And there are other companies out there that offer phone service too.

And the mobile phone is pretty much standard for everyone now, in the city that is. Everyone has one and, though it is pretty pricey per call, about $.25 per minute, is used by people pretty extensively.

The point is that Ukrtelecom value may be dropping as we sit here because competition may be passing it by. Delaying the sale means value drip, drip, dripping away.

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