July 2 (SeeNews) - Czech Republic-based PPF Telecom Group has completed the separation of the infrastructure of its Telenor branded mobile operators in Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia from the retail business in those countries and established CETIN Group, it said on Thursday.
"Newly founded CETIN Bulgaria, Cetin Hungary and CETIN Serbia, together with CETIN in the Czech Republic will become the telecommunication infrastructure backbone of PPF Telecom Group," the company said in a statement.
Separating infrastructure from retail will enable the separated entities in each country to wholly focus on two different market segments and meet in the most efficient way the increasing demands of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) telecommunications market, PPF Telecom Group said.
PPF Telecom Group noted that it expects this move to strengthen both the retail and infrastructure businesses and lead to greater opportunities across CEE, with Telenor CEE stakeholders and consumers only benefiting from the separation, just as a similar separation of O2 and CETIN in the Czech Republic did five years ago.
"In 2018, we acquired CEE Telenor-branded mobile operators and in less than two years have taken another bold step in solidifying our position in the CEE by taking our expertise and applying it to other markets. I am confident CETIN Group will become major infrastructure player in our region," said Ladislav Bartonicek, PPF Group shareholder and CEO of PPF Telecom Group.
CETIN entities will maximise the potential for wholesale partnerships and create greater technological infrastructure synergies through combined research and development (R&D), development, innovation, and long-term investments in telecommunication technologies and infrastructure. While the construction and operation of infrastructure will be under CETIN's full responsibility, the retail organisations, instead, will be able to exclusively dedicate energy to their service propositions and retail customer management.
"CETIN Group intends to play a leading role in driving digital transformation with cutting-edge communications infrastructure solutions in CEE. The regional alignment and synergies generated by this separation will facilitate innovation and implementation of new technologies that will drive the telecommunications sector in the years to come," said Juraj Sedivy, chairman of the board of CETIN in the Czech Republic, and newly appointed board member of CETIN Group which will remain under control of PPF Telecom Group
In July 2018, investment group PPF, the parent of PPF Telecom Group, completed the acquisition of Norwegian mobile operator Telenor's telecommunications assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia for 2.8 billion euro ($3 billion) on an enterprise value basis.
($ = 0.885377 euro)