KPN has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Ortel Mobile, a MVNO active in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany targeting immigrant communities. Ortel's management will hold on to the remaining shares in the company. Ortel already uses KPN's mobile networks, and the deal is expected to accelerate its expansion across Europe. Ortel expects to launch in at least three additional European markets in 2008. The company's sales doubled last year to EUR 87 million, and it recently reported the milestone of 1 million customers. No financial details on the takeover were released, and the deal still depends on regulatory approval. KPN operates its own mobile brand targeted at the Turkish community, Al Yildiz, and also provides network capacity to Ortel rival Lebara. A KPN spokesman said the deal should not affect its agreement with Lebara, and no decision has been taken yet on a possible integration of Ortel and Al Yildiz. According to KPN, Ortel's share of the ethnic market is 30 percent in the Netherlands, 40 percent in Germany and 50 percent in Belgium.
