The Turkish mobile operator Turkcell and Dubai’s Oger Telecom are reported to have emerged as the frontrunners to buy a controlling (65%) stake in the Bulgarian telco BTC. Both companies have lodged higher bids – in one instance of €1.95 billion – than the private equity groups Mid Europa Partners and Texas Pacific Group/Warburg Pincus. Also in Bulgaria, a study by the local company investor.bg has shown that the cost of Internet access has fallen threefold in the last year. Examining the charges of 19 cable, LAN and Wi-Fi providers in 30 cities, it concluded that one of the biggest obstacles remains the cost of installation and equipment, which typically varies between BGN80 (€41.2) and BGN140.
