UAE-based operator Etisalat is reported to have held meetings with the Turkmenistan government over the possibility of taking over the mobile network in the country owned by Russia’s MTS, which is currently suspended. According to a Cellular News report, the country’s Communication Ministry has confirmed that it has met with Etisalat officials to discuss a partnership. The network – part of MTS Russia’s Barash Communications Technologies (BCTI) arm – was suspended at the end of last year after the Turkmen government decided not to renew a 5-year licence. According to the report, the suspension has had a “catastrophic impact” on the country’s mobile market. As BCTI was the clear market leader (with an 80 percent market share), the shutdown meant that over 2 million users were left without service, leaving the only other player in the market – state-backed TM-Cell – unable to cope with demand.

MTS has since launched legal action against the country and its state-owned rivals, alleging the regulator “failed to grant the [licence] extension in accordance with the terms of the agreement.” In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan claimed that MTS had charged “unreasonably high tariffs” and failed to reinvest sufficient levels of its profits back into the Turkmen network.