The incumbent Lithuanian telco Teo LT saw its broadband subscriber total rise by 32,000 in the first half of this year to reach 212,600. At the same time, the number of customers receiving its IPTV service Gala TV rose during the period to just over 11,000. The TeliaSonera-backed company had consolidated revenues of LTL379 million […]
Albtelecom sell off completed
The controversial and long drawn-out privatisation of the incumbent Albanian telco Albtelecom has finally been completed. According to local reports, a 76% stake in the telco has been purchased by the Turkish company Calik Enerji for €120 million plus a promised additional investment of €30 million. Albtelecom has 250,000 customers and is the leading provider […]
ATM Grupa snaps up Studio A
The leading Polish independent production company ATM Grupa has completed the acquisition of Studio A for PLN6 million (€1.6 million). Studio A, which was formed in 1994, is a well-known producer of TV series and has enjoyed particular success with comedies. It has also been reported that ATM Grupa is to spend PLN55 million on […]
Russian telcos mix and match
The Russian telco Rostelecom has invested $20.4 million (€14.7 million) in Golden Telecom. In doing so, it has exercised its non-dilution rights under an existing shareholder agreement in relation to Golden Telecom’s recent acquisition of a majority stake in Corbina Telecom. All three are key companies in the telecom sector, Rostelecom being Russia’s leading fixed-line […]
TVN enters Canadian market
The Polish channel ITVN has extended its coverage to Canada. According to local reports, the service, which is part of the TVN stable, is being carried on the networks of Roger Cable Communications, which reach around 3.5 million households. ITVN made its debut in 2004 and can also be received in the US, Germany and […]
New dawn for Hungarian cable
Hungary’s cable industry is bracing itself for huge change following the scrapping of a rule that prevented operators from providing services to more than one-third of the population. The move has not only halted legal action being taken by the EC against the country for failing to comply with European telecom legislation but also paves […]
Light at end of Czech digital tunnel
The Czech government has endorsed the idea of a new media law to unblock the current impasse surrounding the award of digital TV licences. A statement released earlier this week implied that the digital TV licences granted to and subsequently withdrawn from six companies last year – Febio TV, TV Barrandov, TV Pohada, Ocko, RTA […]
Musical chairs at TV2 Hungary
Gábor Kereszty has been appointed VP for content development at ProSiebenSat.1. At the same time, the role of CEO he has occupied at MTM-SBS, the owners of the Hungarian national commercial station TV2, will be assumed by Zoltán Várdy. Vardy is currently both VP for sales at ProSiebenSat1 and director of sales at TV2. ProSiebenSat.1 […]
New distinction for Cyfrowy Polsat
According to data published in the Croatian and Polish press, Cyfrowy Polsat is now the sixth largest DTH platform in Europe in terms of subscriber numbers. The most recent figures available in fact put its customer total at just over 1.5 million, close to fifth place Germany’s Premiere (1.7 million) and Spain’s Digital+ (2.05 million, […]
More buys for CableTel and Eurocom
Consolidation in Bulgaria’s cable industry continues. Local reports indicate that CableTel, the country’s leading MSO, has received regulatory approval to buy Eurocom ABC, an operator based in the town of Razgrad. At the same time, Eurocom Cable, which is owned by Warburg Pincus-backed FiberNet, the third largest operator in Hungary, is to buy a LAN […]