Deutsche Telekom: No Exit From Hungary

Anete Schaefer, VP business Europe, Deutsche Telekom, has said she doubts the Hungarian incumbent Magyar Telekom will be sold.

In doing so, speaking at the Nextv Series conference event in Berlin, she effectively denied market rumors that appeared in the local press and were quoted by Broadband TV News in mid-November.

However, in a wide-ranging Q&A with the conference organizer Dataxis, she also expressed her concerns about the political situation in the region as a whole and how it is impacting on the freedom of the press.

Speaking more generally, Schaefer said Deutsche Telekom had no plans to launch a full pay-TV service in Poland.

She also emphasized that the Czech and Slovak markets – Telekom has a small OTT operation in the former and a pay-TV service in the latter – are very different to Poland.

Asked about ARPUs, Schaefer said there is no one price fits all for CEE markets, which presents a challenge to global OTT players.

She also said she expects the emergence of more specialist sports OTT services.

Commenting on partnerships, she stressed that Telekom is engaging with its partners is changing, with revenue share giving it more flexibility.― Sat Supreme