The Austrian arm of German food retail giant Aldi Sud is reported to be in talks with T-Mobile Austria about launching an MVNO on its network, as it looks to become a beneficiary of Hutchison Whampoa’s takeover of Orange Austria. Supermarket chain…
The Austrian arm of German food retail giant Aldi Sud is reported to be in talks with T-Mobile Austria about launching an MVNO on its network, as it looks to become a beneficiary of Hutchison Whampoa’s takeover of Orange Austria.
Supermarket chain Hofer is aiming to launch at the beginning of next year, according to a report in Austrian newspaper der Standard which cited a company insider.
Hofer is reported to be working with Ventocom, a prospective virtual operator led by Orange Austria’s former CEO Michael Krammer.
T-Mobile Austria told TelecomFinance that Krammer struck a deal for Ventocom to operate an MVNO, but would not comment on whether it would be serving Hofer customers. Hofer is yet to reply to a request for comment.
In mid-September, T-Mobile’s CEO Andreas Bierwirth said he expected a number of new MVNOs to enter the market in January.
Hutchison’s €1.3bn acquisition of Orange reshaped Austria’s telecoms landscape, reducing the number of operators in the mobile market from four to three, and was only allowed after substantial remedies were agreed.
One of the commitments Hutchison made was to offer up to 30% of its network capacity to as many as 16 MVNOs over the next 10 years.
In spite of the remedies, Austrian antitrust regulator BWB has said there has been significant price increases in the country following the deal. In late August it launched an investigation into the price rises and has requested information from operators.
