The Ukrainian government aims to offer a 3G UMTS mobile phone licence to the country's national fixed-line monopoly Ukrtelecom by 31 August, according to a ruling laying down the terms of Ukrtelecom's privatization, reports Prime-Tass. The UMTS licence would be Ukraine's first. Ukrtelecom should begin offering mobile services before 31 December 2006, according to the ruling. The ruling also stipulates that, as from 31 August 2005, Ukrtelecom should not be viewed as a fixed-line monopoly. The government will also prepare a plan of settling its debt to Ukrtelecom before then. The amount of the debt was undisclosed. Ukrtelecom will set up access points in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and London, UK, by March 2006. The government aims to sell 42.86 percent of the company and transfer another 25 percent to the buyer's management. Ukrtelecom is scheduled to raise its DSL Internet subscriber base to 200,000 by 2006, according to the ruling.
