Local reports indicate that the US companies TPG and Warburg Pincus have joined forces to put in a bid for Bulgaria’s incumbent telco BTC. Although Mid-Europa Partners, Turk Telekom and the Turkish mobile operator Turkcell are also known to be interested, doubts have been raised as to whether the US’s Providence Equity Partners still remain […]
Successful year for Poland’s ITI
Poland’s ITI Group has posted better than expected results for 2006. Its consolidated revenues in the year amounted to €355.6 million, as opposed to €264.6 million in 2005, while the operational profit was up from €59.6 million to €115.5 million. Its net consolidated profit meanwhile rose from €23.6 million to €72.1 million. Although ITI Group […]
Liberty unveils digital plans
According to local reports, Liberty Global has announced its UPC operations in Poland and Hungary will start rolling out digital TV services from 2008. They are likely to include HDTV, a PVR product and virtual VOD libraries, with reception equipment supplied by Philips and Thomson. Separately, a draft law to be presented in Poland next […]
Sistema seeks greater say
According to local reports, Sistema has called for the rights of minority shareholders at Russia’s leading telco Svyazinvest to be extended. Sistema’s Comstar acquired 25% plus one share in Svyazinvest for $1.3 billion (€974.7 million) in Q4 2006 and it was widely assumed this would allow it a greater say over the telco’s operational strategy, […]
BTC ready for triple play
The incumbent Bulgarian telco BTC has announced the completion of a Next Generation Transport Network (NGTN) employing Cisco technology that will allow it to offer triple play services. BTC ended 2006 with over 90,000 ADSL subscribers, and its fixed line and Internet customer total now stands at 2.5 million. All told, the company spent BGN345 […]
UPC Czech ups the ante
UPC plans an almost four-fold increase in the Internet access speeds it offers in the Czech Republic from the beginning of April. As a result, they will now start at 2Mbit/s, allowing the company to compete more effectively with ADSL providers such as Telefonica O2. The combined UPC/Karneval operation currently has 200,000 Internet customers, while […]
ATM looks for more funding
Poland’s leading independent production company ATM Grupa has announced plans for a second IPO. Likely to place at the end of June or early July, it could raise up to PLN185 million (€48.1 million). ATM Grupa’s plans for the next two years include the construction of a new PLN20 million TV studio in Warsaw and […]
Ukrtelecom looks for windfall
The incumbent Ukrainian telco Ukrtelecom has revealed that it expects to raise at least $1.6 billion (€1.2 billion) through the sale of a 37.86% stake in the company on the London Stock Exchange later this year. The floatation will follow the sale of a further 5% of shares locally, likely to earn Ukrtelecom a further […]
Tough times.Chris Dziadul looks at Romtelecom
Romtelecom’s latest results only serve to highlight the increasingly competitive nature of the Romanian electronic communications marketplace. The telco, which is owned by its Greek counterpart OTE (54.01%) and Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology – MCTI (45.99%), has undoubtedly had its work cut out following full market liberalisation. Today, it finds itself operating […]
Mixed picture for Romtelecom
The incumbent Romanian telco Romtelecom has reported a generally disappointing set of financial results for 2006. While its revenues were down by 3.8% to €894.8 million, EDITDA was, at €338.3 million, roughly the same as the previous year’s €341.5 million. It net income in 2006 was €55.2 million, as opposed to €84.8 million in 2005. […]