June 3 (SeeNews) - Bosnia’s Mtel, the mobile arm of Telekom Srpske [BANJ:TLKM-R-A], has applied for permission to acquire 100% of local cable operator Elta-Kabel, the country's competition authority said.
The acquisition will have an impact on the retail market for fixed and mobile telephony, Internet services, and radio and TV programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council of Competition said in a statement last week.
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It is therefore calling all interested parties operating on the relevant market, or markets, on which the concentration could have an impact, to submit their objections and opinion on the deal.
Telekom Srpske is the second-largest telecommunications company in Bosnia. It is majority-owned by Serbian state-controlled Telekom Srbija and has clients mainly in Bosnia’s Serb Republic entity, which together with the Federation entity forms Bosnia.
Elta-Kabel is the leading cable operator in the Serb Republic. It also provides Internet, fixed and mobile telephony services.
Mtel recently acquired another local peer - Bijeljina-based Telrad Net, as well as the local arm of Telekom Slovenije - Banja Luka-based Blicnet.
Bosnia, a country of some 3.5 million people, has two more major telecommunication companies, both state-controlled - HT Mostar and BH Telecom.