PPF Group’s Yettel Bulgaria has asked the country’s Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) to ban the sale of Bulsatcom key assets to Slovenia Broadband, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Group.
It has done so within a seven-day deadline for expressing an opinion on the transaction, which involves Bulsatcom’s electronic communications network (mobile towers and fixed fibre network).
Yettel Bulgaria’s request is that the notification procedure be combined with the investigation launched by the CPC to establish a possible violation of the Law on Protection of Competition regarding the transaction leading to a change in control of Bulsatcom.
According to Yettel Bulgaria, its statement reflects concerns that a series of acquisitions of economically and infrastructure strong companies by a major player in the telecommunications market will lead to the creation of a dominant undertaking with over 60% in the TV distribution market and nearly 40% in the internet access market. This in turn could also lead to a weakening of competitive pressure in the bundled services market (mobile, TV and internet) where one player will strengthen its leading position.
In a statement supplied to Broadband TV News, PPF Group said that it has been an active investor in the CEE telco business for nearly a decade. Following its acquisition of Telenor’s CEE assets, since renamed Yettel, it has tried replicating its Czech fixed-mobile business blueprint across all of PPF Telecom Group’s markets.
PPF Group went on to say: “Such arrangements are only possible amid thriving competition in the telecommunications market. We have raised our concerns with the Bulgarian antitrust watchdog CPC regarding the sustainability and protection of the level-playing field in the fixed-line sector in the wake of the segment’s consolidation. We were concerned when it turned out that the actual acquirer of Bulsatcom failed to notify CPC promptly. The latest filing to the CPC by Yettel Bulgaria is in line with our concerns and efforts to ensure a fair and competitive business environment”.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, Bulsatcom, which is the leading pay-TV operator in Bulgaria, was acquired by the entrepreneur Spas Rusev in September 2022.
This was done with a loan of €127 million and United Group subsequently acquired Bulsatcom’s mobile towers for €3 million set off the loan. It is now in the process of acquiring Bulsatcom’s fibre network for €87 million.
