MOSCOW, September 10 - RAPSI. Rostelecom has submitted a lawsuit against Skartel to the Moscow Commercial Court to receive access to the companys network to allow it to render LTE services under MVNO terms.
Skartel is part of the Yota brand.
The lawsuit was registered on September 6, according to the court materials.
Rostelecom and three other mobile communications providers - MTS, Megafon and Vimpelcom - signed an agreement of intent in March 2011 to render services using Skartel's infrastructure.
In autumn 2011, the parties signed a memorandum of cooperation stipulating the primary details of their agreement. In April 2012, they signed a preliminary cooperation agreement in Moscow, according to which Rostelecom would implement LTE services in test mode on July 1, and LTE services in commercial mode on September 1.
However, the primary contract was never signed as Skartel was protracting its conclusion all the time, Kommersant reported, citing a Rostelecom source.
In autumn 2011, Skartel became the first provider licensed to build a federal LTE network. Rostelecom, MTS, Megafon and VimpelCom were only granted the right in summer 2012 after having won a tender where federal LTE licenses were drawn.Megafon works on the Skartel network. It is part of the holding that owns Skartel.
Last week, Skartel finished receiving applications from providers to work on its network under the MVNO scheme. It is obliged to grant access to other providers to its network due to a Federal Antimonopoly Service order, issued as part of Skartel and Megafon's integration into a holding.