B.net Hrvatska, Croatia’s largest cable operator owned by Austrian industrial group BEWAG, has taken over the Croatian operations of South Eastern European DTH platform TotalTV, controlled by private equity firm Mid Europa Partners (MEP).
Since December…
B.net Hrvatska, Croatia’s largest cable operator owned by Austrian industrial group BEWAG, has taken over the Croatian operations of South Eastern European DTH platform TotalTV, controlled by private equity firm Mid Europa Partners (MEP).
Since December 1, the company has been integrated into B.net’s operations. The cable operator is now responsible for branding and customer support of the Croatian satellite TV provider, according to B.net. The TotalTV employees have been integrated into B.net.
However, Christian Kurz, head of the telecom business unit at BEWAG, clarified that, “B.net Hrvatska did not acquire Croatian satellite operator TotalTV. Instead, B.net HR took over all operational agendas of TotalTV. This is a purely commercial deal. No shares in either company were exchanged.” TotalTV serves several regional markets – Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia – via Eutelsat W2. Mid Europa acquired TotalTV in 2007 via Serbia Broadband (SBB), which distributes the platform’s services in the Balkans.
In a statement, B.net explained that with this contract, the company’s services are now available in the whole of Croatia.
The move comes as competition is intensifying in both the Croatian and Eastern European DTH markets. Incumbent Croatian telco T-HT, a T-Mobile subsidiary, is reportedly looking to start a satellite platform, with tests underway on Eutelsat Sesat (16E) to distribute 17 encrypted channels. This would be the third DTH platform in the country after Total TV and Digi TV, which is owned by Romanian company RCS&RDS.
Meanwhile in Czech Republic, another subsidiary of T-Mobile, T-Mobile Czech Republic, is also expected to launch a DTH service using the infrastructure of Skylink, another platform operating in the country, according to local media reports.
Since October, Austria also has a new DTH platform. Called AustriaSat and owned by M7, the company is expected to offer 14 channels from several broadcasters, including RTL and MTV, via Astra (19.2 E).
