President Approves Fixed Telecom De-Regulation

On Friday, President Yushchenko signed a law excluding long-distance calls (domestic, international and fixed-to-mobile) from the list of services regulated by the state. Alexander Paraschiy: Now Ukrtelecom (UTEL: BUY) has more independence in its tariff policy, which potentially makes it more competitive with mobile operators. However, we believe the company will only manage to take full advantage of its newly won independence following its privatization and development of a clear marketing strategy.