Rostelcom seeks Siberian ISP

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service granted Rostelecom permission to acquire a 100 percent stake in Siberian broadband operator Enter, TeleGeography CommsUpdate reported.

The ISP, which was established in 2005, counts around 22,000 subscribers in the cities of Bernaul, Novokuznetsk and Tyumen.

Rostelecom acquired its stake in Enter from Netherlands-based Consumer Enter, although no purchase price was quoted.

The deal signifies Rostelecom’s latest move to secure a foothold in Russia’s fragmented broadband market – and its first notable acquisition outside of the capital.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Rostelecom entered the Moscow high speed Internet market last year, when it acquired a 71.8 percent stake in National Telecommunications (NTC) for an undisclosed sum.