Megafon, Russia’s second biggest mobile phone operator, is ready to buy 100 percent of 4G provider Skartel (operating under the brand Yota) if its shareholders approve the deal at the extraordinary meeting in September, says an official press release on Megafon’s website.

      According to Vedomosti, the company has also obtained permission from the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

      The price of the deal is $1.18 billion, but there’s also debt that needs to be factored in.

      In 2008, Skartel became the first company in Russia to deploy a WiMAX standard network in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the range of 2.5-2.7 GHz. It has now switched to LTE technology.

      Megafon's shares rose 4.9 percent on the news.