The general shareholders meeting of Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) has approved the merger of BTC with its subsidiary BTC Mobile (Vivatel) as part of a restructuring process. The company's registration as BTC Mobile will be withdrawn shortly and the telecom group will commence operation as a single entity. The main Bulgarian mobile operators Globul and Mobitel protested against the decision of Bulgaria's telecoms operator BTC to merge its fixed-line and mobile businesses, saying this violated anti-trust regulations. The general assembly also approved the transfer of more than 100 properties to a new unit. The 100 properties are worth an estimated EUR 282 million, according to a report by Forton International. A large number of the properties are not directly linked to telecommunications and so the company will use them to attract funding and streamline operations.
