Published
07/18/2025, 15:54The assets of Kyrgyzstan's first mobile phone company, KATEL, which has been declared bankrupt, will be sold. The auction is scheduled for 22 July. The special administrator in the bankruptcy case is Suyumbaev Mailybayev.
KATEL went down in Kyrgyz history as a pioneer of mobile communications. It was the company that launched the era of mobile communications in the republic, with the first mobile phone call in the country made in 1994. The company developed a D-AMPS network using Ericsson equipment. However, in five years, it had only 5,000 subscribers, covering only 8% of the country.
Over time, with the arrival of GSM operators on the market, KATEL completely lost its position. In 2014, the company ceased operations, and the last call on its network marked the end of its history.
Today, more than ten years after its closure, the remains of the company's property will be put up for auction. KATEL, registered in Bishkek on Suyumbaeva Street, still owns assets (the list of property is not specified) that will be sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings.
Just to recap, KATEL was registered in Kyrgyzstan on 11 August 1992. It was a joint Kyrgyz-American venture. According to the latest info from the Ministry of Justice, its founders were the Ministry of Transport, TK Tel (Kyrgyz) Ltd, and AOZT Set Holding.
