“The consolidation of the market is something that many European operators have been calling for for a long time,” he stressed
The deal for “Bulsatcom” is great news for the company’s users, as well as for the entire telecommunications market in Bulgaria. This was commented by the CEO of Vivacom Nikolay Andreev in the week in which the Commission for the Protection of Competition allowed the acquisition of “Bulsatcom” by Vivacom.
Andreev stressed that Bulsatcom users will get extremely fast access to much more high-quality television content, as well as to much higher-quality Internet services.
In his words, the deal for “Bulsatcom” is good news, not only for consumers, but also for the company’s employees. “It’s no secret to anyone that in recent years Bulsatcom was experiencing quite serious financial difficulties and was systematically underinvested in it. I believe that if this deal had not happened, the risk of Bulsatcom going bankrupt was very high,” emphasized Vivacom’s CEO.
Andreev also commented on the positions of competing companies in connection with the Bulsatcom transaction. “Some of them, like A1, for example, spread the word that when we acquire a certain operator, we drastically increase prices. This is fake news,” he said, stating categorically that none of the Net1, N3 or NetWorx deals saw a dramatic price increase. “But clearly, in their desire to blacken the deal, our competitors are applying double standards.” Something we would not tolerate in any way”, is his position.
The CEO of Vivacom pointed out that in its conclusion, in the decision to approve the transaction, the Commission for the Protection of Competition clearly explained that the transaction for “Bulsatcom” is good for both Bulgarian consumers and the Bulgarian market.
Regarding the allegations of market dominance, which also accompanied the process of approving the transaction, Andreev pointed to the thorough investigation that the CPC conducted. “The Commission for the Protection of Competition considered an enormous amount of information, discussed all the points of view, all the complaints filed. It even launched an in-depth study to process the massive amount of data that was provided on this deal. This is the approach used by all European Commissions for the protection of competition, as well as the European Commission for the Protection of Competition itself”, explained the CEO of Vivacom.
“We have seen many cases where competitors, through various arguments, try to block a certain deal. And that is precisely why it is extremely important for independent regulators to look at all available information and assess whether a deal is good or not for a certain market”, said Andreev. And he explained about the attempts to stop the deal. “The Bulgarian court categorically rejected these appeals as absolutely groundless several times”.
“The numbers are usually in the single digits, but it’s extremely important when analyzing a particular industry or a particular market to take the relevant numbers at the moment in order to be able to draw the conclusions,” he said of post-acquisition market share concerns. of “Bulsatcom”.
“I’m sure that you, for example, when you turn on the TV in the evening, you don’t just choose between a multi-thematic or a cable channel, but very often you stop at movies and series on some of the video content platforms. So do most users. In this regard, the TV and content market is not the market it was 15 or 20 years ago, as, by the way, our competitors believe. It has grown tremendously and developed tremendously thanks to the entry of these new platforms,” added Andreev.
According to him, the correct approach is to take into account the real picture of the market – as it is today. “Based on the data and objective facts about the current state of the market, the market share would be around 40%,” he assured.
Vivacom’s CEO explained that in the process of examining this deal at the Commission for the Protection of Competition, numerous market studies, realized by both the telecommunications sector and the media, were provided.
“The commission also took into account the penetration of all these video content platforms. The fact that in Bulgaria, unfortunately, there are some operators who do not correctly account for all their subscribers and those who work entirely in the gray sector was also reported. Something that is extremely unpleasant both for the media and for the entire Bulgarian economy”, stressed Andreev.
Andreev emphasized the number – 244 – of pay TV operators operating in Bulgaria. “There are also 610 internet providers. These are data only for the Bulgarian market. In this regard, it is clear that the Bulgarian market is extremely competitive. With this deal, the Bulgarian market will become even more competitive. Something that obviously worries our competitors”, is his opinion.
Market consolidation
According to Vivacom’s CEO, market consolidation is something that many European operators have been calling for for a long time. “If we look at the map of the world, we will see that in the USA, for example, there are three major telecommunications operators. In China, similarly, there are three major telecommunications operators. In Europe, the number of large telecommunication operators exceeds 60. The European market is extremely fragmented and divided into small pieces”, Andreev pointed out.
He also touched on the strong pressure on European telecommunications operators, including Vivacom, to invest in the development of 5G in the mobile market and in optical networks for high-speed internet. Having stressed that this would not be possible without market consolidation.
“The European Commission issued a document in which it said that in order for European operators to remain and for Europe to remain competitive and relevant and to preserve its digital independence, consolidation of the telecommunications market in Europe is absolutely necessary,” explained Andreev.
The CEO of Vivacom said that in order to meet the needs of the digital transformation in the next five to six years in telecommunications infrastructure more than 200 billion euros should be invested. “In this regard, the transaction for Bulsatcom is a step in the direction in which the entire European telecommunications sector is developing and will develop”, concluded the CEO of Vivacom Nikolay Andreev.
2024-02-22 20:00:00
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