Telekom Austria and Dutch telco KPN have entered into a wholesale partnership deal, which they contend has created one of Europe’s largest fibre networks.
The Austrian and Dutch incumbents, in which Carlos Slim’s America Movil (AMX) holds…
Telekom Austria and Dutch telco KPN have entered into a wholesale partnership deal, which they contend has created one of Europe’s largest fibre networks.
The Austrian and Dutch incumbents, in which Carlos Slim’s America Movil (AMX) holds significant minority stakes, have combined their backbone networks, more than doubling their combined fibre footprint.
The agreement enables the two companies to offer Ethernet, IP VPN, Wavelength and IPT services to 173 points of presence in 35 countries across Europe and North America, Telekom Austria said in a statement.
Select groups such as international wholesale carriers and large business customers will have access to the expanded range of backbone-based services, the company noted.
Telekom Austria’s wholesale director Stefan Amon described the deal as a “pan-European wholesale partnership” combining “two regionally complementary infrastructures”. The partnership will benefit from Telekom Austria’s knowledge and experience in Central and Eastern Europe and KPN’s in Western Europe, he noted.
KPN International managing director Jasper Snijder said he is confident the deal “enables both companies to make more efficient use of our networks, which will benefit our customers”.
The companies are also implementing common marketing and sales activities for the combined networks, Telecom Austria said.
Mexico-based AMX owns 22.76% of Telekom Austria and 27.99% of KPN. Last week, the company announced it intends to offer €2.40 per share – or about €7.2bn – to acquire the shares in KPN that it does not already own. In its statement, AMX highlighted its expansion strategy outside of the Americas.
There has since been considerable speculation that AMX may seek to take over, or boost its stake in, Telekom Austria, in which the state owns the largest stake (28.4%). At a press conference yesterday, the Austrian operator’s CEO Hannes Ametsreiter declined to comment on the rumours, describing it as a shareholder matter.
Bernstein Research analyst Sam McHugh said the agreement shows the two operators will do all they can to maximise potential synergies going forward, adding that AMX is clearly in the driving seat in this respect.
McHugh questioned whether AMX would have enough leverage to up its stake in Telekom Austria at present, adding that he is not yet convinced the Mexican telco’s formal takeover offer for KPN will end up materialising.
However, in his view, AMX’s intended offer for KPN proves the Mexican company is very serious about the asset and views Germany, situated between the Netherlands and Austria, as very important.
