The Polish telecom market could soon see major consolidation, with Netia, the leading alternative carrier – and now also a cable operator – taking over the mobile operator Play.
Speaking to Gazeta Wyborcza, the entrepreneur Zbigniew Jakubas, who owns 23% of Netia through two companies and also sits on its board of directors, said he would like to see Netia link up with Play, which is one of Poland’s leading mobile operators.
Interestingly, Netia held a 23.4% stake in Play up until 2008 which it sold to Tollerton Investments and Novator Telecom, its current owners, for €130 million.
Since then, Play’s business has significantly grown, while Netia has come under pressure and attracted interest from potential investors such as Vectra, the country’s leading cable operator.
Netia has itself recently entered the cable market, launching services on networks formerly operated by Aster that were acquired by UPC Polska.
Jakubas is gradually increasing his ownership in Netia and says the telco could allocate up to PLN2 billion (€476 million) for future acquisitions.
