Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Russia’s largest operator, is taking legal action against the authorities in Turkmenistan, after the licence of its Barash Communications Technologies (BCTI) arm was suspended for a period of one month (from 21 December 2010). It has also started actions against state-owned operators Turkmen Telecom and Altyn Asyr, in connection with the alleged termination of interconnect agreements with BCTI. Bloomberg reports that MTS had said there is no guarantee that it will be able to resume services after the suspension period, with claims that more than 2 million subscribers have been left without service as a result.

MTS said last week that it had been operating in Turkmenistan via an agreement with the country’s Ministry of Communications which expired on 21 December 2010, “unless extended pursuant to its terms and conditions.” The Russian company says that “at all times” it believed that the extension would take place and that it approached the regulator within the required timeframe, but “the Ministry of Communications failed to grant the extension in accordance with the terms of the agreement.” It said it will “vigorously defend its legal rights and interests.” According to Wireless Intelligence data, BCTI/MTS has 2.39 million subscribers, compared to 268,000 for Altyn Asyr.