Telekom Austria’s Bulgarian unit Mobiltel (Mtel) is considering acquisitions in the local fixed-line market as it seeks to expand, according to CEO Thanassis Katsirubas.
Katsirubas told journalists that Mtel’s current 7% share of the fixed-line space…
Telekom Austria’s Bulgarian unit Mobiltel (Mtel) is considering acquisitions in the local fixed-line market as it seeks to expand, according to CEO Thanassis Katsirubas.
Katsirubas told journalists that Mtel’s current 7% share of the fixed-line space does not reflect its ambitions or the investments it has made in recent years. The company is currently Bulgaria’s largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers.
Mtel intends to expand its IPTV services and will examine all acquisition possibilities, Katsirubas said.
He noted that the company believes the local fixed-line sector’s highly-fragmented nature is unsustainable and not in consumers’ best interests.
Sweden-based investment firm EQT is said to be looking to sell its local cableco Blizoo, which it created in 2009 by combining digital TV companies CableTel and Eurocom. According to EQT, Blizoo’s EBITDA in 2012 stood at €22m and its sales for the year at €57m.
In its FY 2013 results, Telekom Austria said Mtel’s share of the mobile market had dropped from 42.1% to 39%, although it remained the market leader. Its number of fixed-access lines increased 1.4% to about 159,000. Mtel’s total revenues for the year were down 15% to €399.4m, while EBITDA fell 23.5% to €158.6m.
Bulgaria’s largest triple-play operators are Bulsatcom, Vivacom and Blizoo.
