Deutsche Telekom is eyeing up fixed-line assets in a number of countries in both Western and Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, it is also in talks to buy the 49% stake in the incumbent telco Slovak Telecom it does not already own.
Quoting Ronald Mahler, head of Telekom’s European operations outside Germany, Bloomberg identifies the countries as Austria, Poland and The Netherlands.
In Poland, where Telekom already controls the mobile operator Polska Telefonia Cyfrowy (PTC), its targets are reported to include Netia, Telefonia Dialog and Exatel, all of which compete with the France Telecom-backed incumbent telco Telekomunikacja Polska (TP).
Meanwhile in The Netherlands, Telekom already owns the broadband ISP Online, the former Wanadoo, which it acquired when Telekom bought the mobile network Orange from France Telecom. The ISP business was included in the deal and Telekom was not able to resell it again.
In Slovakia, on the other hand, it will have to pay in the region of €1 billion for the 49% stake in Slovak Telecom.
Telekom is less willing to commit itself more in Greece, where it holds a 30% stake in OTE, and indeed in Romania (Romtelecom) due to the difficult economic situation in both countries.
