Telenor has dismissed reports that it will work with Telekom Srbija in order to undermine Serbia Broadband.
According to Beta, Telenor has issued a statement in which it said that it always acts and will continue to operate within the law and the highest standards of the market in Serbia. It added that it currently does not have any specific products or services to announce, as well as any additional comments.
Telenor Serbia is owned by Petr Kellner’s PPF Group and its statement follows a report by the N1 TV channel that Telekom Srbija plans to give it control of its complete cable network and infrastructure and content in order to reduce Serbia Broadband’s (SBB’s) market share to below 30%. SBB, like N1, is part of United Group, Telekom Srbija’s main competitor in Serbia.
Commenting on the issue, N1 said that Telekom Srbija and Telenor have not denied reports of their cable agreement. “N1 has had access to documents showing that the goal of the contract that Telekom drew up is to destroy SBB and prevent it from investing in free media in Serbia. The plan was presented to Telekom Srbija’ stop management late last year. N1 learned that the Telekom Executive Board confirmed the draft contract with Telenor at a December 1 meeting. The plan was disclosed by Telekom CEO Vladimir Lucic just before his predecessor Predrag Culibrk was dismissed”.
N1 TV says that reports of a possible contract between Telekom Srbija and Telenor have drawn a flood of negative reactions on social media networks.
Telenor has since denied that it has any plans to merge its operations with those of Telekom’s. It has nevertheless conceded it works with Telekom and has plans to enter the Serbian broadband and TV content market as a standalone player.
Broadband TV News notes that Telekom Srbija and United Group’s SBB have been in dispute over alleged unfair competition since at least mid-2019.
