PPF Telecom Group said it has completed the separation of the retail and infrastructure activities at three of its Telenor-branded mobile operators, in Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia. The network infrastructure has been spun off into a new company under the name Cetin, the same as at PPF's Czech operators. The company said Cetin will become the telecommunication infrastructure backbone of PPF Telecom Group as well as serve wholesale customers.
Cetin Group’s networks will provide voice, data, TV, video, IT, and cyber-security services to Telenor CEE and other wholesale customers in the region and internationally, including O2 Czech Republic. Separating network infrastructure from retail services (including B2B) will enable the two entities in each country to focus wholly on their different market segments and meet in the most efficient way the increasing demands of the CEE telecommunications market, PPF said.
The Cetin entities are expected to maximise potential for wholesale partnerships and create greater technological infrastructure synergies through combined R&D, development, innovation, and long-term investments in telecommunication technologies and infrastructure. While the construction and operation of infrastructure will be under Cetin’s full responsibility, the retail organisations will be able to focus exclusively on their service propositions and retail customer management.
Cetin Bulgaria, Cetin in the Czech Republic, Cetin Hungary, and Cetin Serbia will fall, subject to completion of internal restructuring, under Cetin Group, which will remain under control of PPF Telecom Group. Each of the new regional Cetin organisations will start to apply key learnings from the 2015 separation of O2 and Cetin in the Czech Republic and benefit from technological, commercial, and innovation know-how and cooperation. All Telenor branded organisations will rely on the services of their local Cetin providers.
