Kazakhtelecom JSC, Kazakhstan’s state telco, has finalized the sale of its Mobile Telecom Services (MTS) mobile network to Qatar’s Power International Holding (PIH) for $1.1 billion.

The Kazakhstan government first announced the deal earlier this year, stating that PIH had committed to the expansion of MTS' network.

The deal was approved earlier this month by the company's shareholders.

An agreement in principle for the deal was signed in February in Qatar by PIH, Kazakhtelecom JSC, and Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund which owns the telco.

The signing took place as part of a state visit to Qatar by Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Kazakhtelecom has owned MTS, not to be confused with the Russian telecoms firm of the same name, since 2019.

In total, the MTS network - comprising the brands Tele2 and Altel - has seven million customers and is part of a consortium installing 5G base stations across Kazakhstan to improve the country’s network. Last year, 800 base stations were installed, taking the total across Kazakhstan to more than 7,000.

PIH operates in 19 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Libya, France, and the UK.

Kazakhtelecom forms subsea JV with Azertelecom

The company has also this week agreed to form a subsea cable joint venture (JV) with Azerbaijani telco Azertelecom.

As reported by The Times of Central Asia, more than $50 million will be invested to deploy fiber optic cables along the bottom of the Caspian Sea.

It builds on a previous strategic corporation memorandum signed by the carriers in 2022, which sought to lay a fiber-optic cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea.

The report said that the Trans-Caspian Fiber Optic Communication Line (FOCL) will span 370 km.

"Today, a joint venture between Kazakhtelecom JSC and Azertelecom LLC has been established, and a tender to select a contractor for designing and laying an underwater FOCL is being finalized," said Zhaslan Madiev, Kazakhstan’s minister of digital development.

The FOCL subsea is part of the Digital Silk Road project, which aims to create a telecoms corridor between Europe and Asia.

Founded in 2008, Azertelecom is a subsidiary of Bakcell, Azerbaijan's first mobile network operator. The company, which is a part of NEQSOL Holding, claims to provide the country's fastest Internet services.