Iltimas Mammadov, the Azerbaijani Deputy Minister for Communications & Information Technology, stated during talks with journalists, that Azerfon Joint Venture, a third Azerbaijan mobile operator, has appealed to the Azerbaijan Ministry of Communications & Information Technology to postpone the commencement of its activities, Trend reports.
Azerfon was due to set up its activities in October, but this was delayed. The Ministry obliged in order to protect the quality and implementation of other obligations, he said.
Regarding talks that there would be a cut in tariffs once the third mobile operator in the country is in operation is untrue. Mammadov said that the Ministry does not have such forecasts
. This decision will be made by the operators
Azerfon is the third mobile operator in Azerbaijan. The license for providing mobile services in the standards of GSM 900/1800 was issued by the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology of Azerbaijan on 28 December 2005. The company was founded by Aztelekom Production Association (10%), the German Siemens (30%) and two British companies (60%).
The mobile operator is responsible for covering 85% of the country's territory with mobile communication over 2 years. Investments in this period are expected to constitute $300 mln.