VimpelCom quits vietnam's telecom market

VimpelCom, one of Russia's top three mobile phone operators, will sell its 49 percent stake in Vietnamese joint venture GTEL Mobile for $45 million and quit the Southeast Asian market, the firm said on Monday. VimpelCom has signed an agreement to sell its stake in the joint venture to its Vietnamese partner GTEL and give up operational control in the venture, the company said in a statement. "We have previously outlined our value agenda, within which all of our operations are reviewed to assess their future value to the group. The decision to dispose of our interest in GTEL Mobile is a result of this process, which focuses on allocating capital to those markets where we see the best opportunities to generate shareholder value," VimpelCom CEO Jo Lunder was quoted in the statement as saying. Vimpelcom entered the Vietnamese telecom market in 2009 under its Beeline trade mark. As for the end of 2009, some 32 percent of the Vietnamese people use Vimpelcom's services in 20,000 outlets. The company's network in the Southeast country amounted to 1,950 base stations.