Serbia’s Telekom: We are not buying any TV station

N1

Telekom Serbia said on Wednesday its telecommunications company headquartered in Belgrade, had no intention of purchasing any television channel, thus denying reports that its acquisition of Kopernikus included an unlawful purchase of the TV station, N1 reported.

Telekom Serbia, a telecommunications company which offers a range of fixed-line, mobile, and internet communication services in Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Austria, described the reports as entirely untrue.

“The claims that Telekom Serbia bought Kopernikus TV or any other TV are utterly false, and the company has no intention of ever acquiring any TV network,“ the Telekom statement said.

It added that “in line with its strategic commitment to be a regional leader in telecommunications, Telekom Serbia only acquired the Kopernikus Technology cable operator and did not violate any legal provision.”

The statement also said the “empowering the Telekom Serbia position enables the competitiveness in the TV distribution market, offers people more favourable and better quality service, the possibility of choice of TV providers which would be in jeopardy by a dominant position, or even a monopoly, of a single cable operator in Serbia.“

Telekom Serbia, with the state’s majority stake, officially acquired the 100 percent of the second largest cable operator in Serbia, the Kopernikus Technology.

Telecom told N1 that the acquisition followed market conditions and prices.

On the other hand, some experts saw it as questionable for several reasons.