Coscom, third largest mobile operator of Uzbekistan in terms of subscriber base, organized a press conference on 16 June in Tashkent to announce its full rebranding, change of trademark. The launch of the new brand in the Uzbek market is being carried out through a wide-scale marketing campaign.

Starting from 16 June 2008 the company renders mobile communication services in Uzbekistan under Ucell brand, Director General of Coscom Oguz Memiguven told journalists. "From now on all our services will be provided under Ucell brand," he said.

This decision was made by the new owners of the company. "Changing the brand to Ucell, we wanted to underscore our belonging to Uzbekistan, and at the same time to show that Coscom is now a part of large "family" of world class telecommunication companies," Memiguven noted.

Despite the ownership by a European investor, Coscom under Ucell brand will always be a local company for Uzbekistan. "We are loyal to our values – to be a local company rendering world class services, taking care of our employees, subscribers and society, conduct business in line with the global ethical norms," Memiguven said.

The change of the brand is connected with the change of the company's proprietor. In mid-2007 the controlling interest in Coscom was purchased by TeliaSonera, one of the leading European telecommunication corporations.

On the territory of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) TeliaSonera has majority interest in such companies, as K'cell (Kazakhstan), Azercell (Azerbaijan), Geocell (Georgia) and Moldcell (Moldova). Therefore, in accordance with the owner company's strategy, its Uzbek acquisition was named as Ucell (U – Uzbekistan, Cell – general part of name for the TeliaSonera companies operating in different countries).

The company administration believes that Ucell is the brand of resolute and young minded, for those who are constantly in search of new, modern services meeting the growing interests and needs. "We have created this brand to support the dynamical image of the life of such people and to help them achieve success," Memiguven emphasized.

Coscom was the second mobile operator in Uzbekistan rendering mobile communication services in the country for more than 12 years. The company's main direction of activity is development of modern mobile communication system in GSM 900/1800 standard. The company has set task to fully replace the existing equipment and expand new 3G network throughout the country in 2008.

Coscom has already signed a contract with Nokia Siemens Networks, and ZTE (China) for supply of necessary equipment. The agreement with Nokia, inked in late 2007, stipulates the replacement of existing network with simultaneous expansion of the coverage zone and carrying capacity. The cost of the deal made for two years is worth USD 512 million. The company's subscriber base exceeded 1 million in April 2008.

"Our services and new brand will completely meet the latest standards of mobile communication," Memiguven said. "We have changed our strategy – it will be more aggressive and rapid."

The rebranding will cost Coscom some USD 5-10 million. In all, the company is going to invest up to USD 200 million in Uzbekistan, depending on successes of activity in the country. "We will invest, use latest technologies. We must be among the leaders!" Coscom CEO said.

The company head believes that this year Coscom's market share will reach 20% in Uzbekistan and it will be much more in the coming couple of years. This year the company is planning to increase the number of its base stations to 2,500, and install up to 5,000 stations in the next years. Moreover, the company is ready to invest in its specialists, conducting trainings and raising skills according to the modern world standards.

Uzreport.com