UNITED GROUP: Failed negotiations with Telekom increase media darkness

N1

Telekom Serbia has been deceiving its users for days about the reasons why United Group programs have been removed from their offer after being distributed up to January 17, the United Group said in a statement on Monday.

It added that untruths are being used to deceive the citizens of Serbia in an effort to blame the failure of the negotiations and removal of United Media programs on the company whose interest was to have as many people as possible view its channels. “That is why we made Telekom an offer which allowed each of its users to view N1 TV, which is in the general interest. All our quality programs were offered at the same prices as in previous years as part of the contracts with Radijus Vektor and Kopernikus,” the statement said.

“The Telekom turned our offer to bring N1 as an independent and credible program closer to all the citizens of Serbia into the manipulation which has resulted in all media close to the authorities blaming the failure of the negotiations on the United Group, expressing complete lies. That could have been expected from a company which is hiding behind the phantom firm Supernova, which does not exist, seemingly in the belief that we will sign the contract and risk the manner of its implementation and possible abuse.

“We have been subjected to unequal market competition as one of the biggest investors in Serbia for a long time because representatives of the executive authorities discriminate against us at every step and prevent us from operating freely. We understand that they want to illegally lend support to their favorite, the Telekom, but we did not expect the persecution to happen on a daily basis.

“The SBB company has been prevented for a long time from laying optic cable and expanding its network and that discriminates against the citizens of Serbia who cannot freely choose a cable operator. Along with the fact that 300,000 families in Serbia have lost access to N1 in the past 50 days because of a decision by the two state—owned operators, it is clear that the negotiations were false and aimed at not reaching an agreement.

“The state-owned Talekom, working through the non-transparently bought operators in Serbia, has a goal which is clearer to each citizens today – to stop the distribution of programs which are not to their liking and increase the media darkness in election year.

“The state operators evidently wants to remove and ban the cable operators that distribute independent programs such as SBB or the United Media company which have independent channels in their offer and the Serbian executive authorities are helping them in their efforts.

“Obviously, the scenario that is intended for the United Group is preventing its development, from the laying of cable to prevent free access by people across Serbia even though we are one of the biggest investors in Serbia. If there was any chance of operating freely with no discrimination and fair market competition, that would mean that our access to the mobile phone market would not be blocked as has been the case for years.

“While the Telekom has been developing by buying operators with state money in a non-transparent manner, an attempt is underway to destroy the United Group. Following media demonization, the measure that is being implemented now is illegal prevention of our development.

“We will continue to invest effort to truthfully inform the citizens of Serbia, in their interest, and offer them the best possible quality of service wherever possible and where the state does not prevent us with illegal decisions.

“All interested parties can follow our channels by choosing an SBB package or TOTAL TV and can very simply do that through the EON platform anywhere in Serbia with no contractual obligation,” the United Group statement said.