Telia Lietuva is seeking to overturn a decision by Lithuania’s Communications Regulatory (CRA) under which frequencies used by the company Mezon are being transferred to Bite.
Mezon was formerly a subsidiary of the national transmission company Telecentras and included an IPTV service among its assets. It is in the final stages of being sold to the mobile operator Bite, which is backed by Providence Equity Partners, in a deal worth €20 million, first announced in May this year.
Quoting Daiva Kasperaviciene, head of Telia’s legal department, Verslo Zinios reports that despite having initiated a lawsuit Telia is not seeking to prevent or suspend the transaction. Rather, it is showing dissatisfaction that the frequencies, given to Telecentras by the state, are included in the sale.
Meanwhile, Telecentras has issued a strong response to Telia’s legal action. It includes the statement that “Following the commencement of the legal proceedings, the completion of the Mezon transaction at the agreed time becomes doubtful. If Telia’s requested court were to order RRT to revoke the licence for the transfer of the 2.3 and 2,5 GHz bands, some 70,000 of Mezon’s current customers served by equipment adapted to operate in that band would lose access to them. to use. One can only imagine what it means to suddenly lose internet access to such a large number of users, and even during the quarantine period”.
Telecentras also says: “Although Telia Lietuva, abusing its formal right, applied to the court only regarding the frequencies transferred to Bite, it is still obvious that there are much broader motives and interests behind this action. Despite Telia Lietuva’s rhetoric about violations of competition and equality, we believe that the real goal of the Swedish government-controlled company in Lithuania is to block or at least delay the Mezon business transfer, which would strengthen competition in the market and prevent Telia Lietuva’s dominance in the market”.
