By Marton Eder
BUDAPEST--Hungary's state-owned fourth mobile operator is
committed to starting operations at the beginning of next year
despite media reports that a court ruling could hinder preparatory
work.
MPVI Mobil Zrt. is set to start servicing from January 2013 in
line with commitments made in a frequency tender last year.
However, two of its competitors, Telenor Magyarorszag Zrt., the
Hungarian arm of Norway's Telenor ASA (TEL.OS) and Magyar Telekom
Nyrt.(MTELEKOM.BU), a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom (DTE.XE),
launched an appeal against the tender decision on the grounds that
it infringes Hungarian and European Union law.
Hungarian media reported Wednesday that a court ruling this week
may endanger the timely launch of the company's services. The
resolution suspends the rights related to its successful license
tender and doesn't allow for renting domestic roaming services from
other mobile operators until a final verdict is made on the
appeal.
MPVI Mobil hasn't formally received notification of the
non-binding decision announced in court, a spokesman told Dow Jones
Newswires. "The company considers the resolution temporary, and
technical in nature, and continues to work toward starting
operations in line with commitments," he said.
MPVI Mobil was launched by a consortium of state-owned
companies--postal services provider Magyar Posta Zrt., power
wholesaler MVM Zrt. and development bank MFB Zrt. It hasn't yet
floated tenders--estimated at 100 billion Hungarian forints ($436
million)--for building infrastructure and has yet to announce who
its management team will be.
Write to Marton Eder at marton.eder@dowjones.com
