Page 16 - bne_Tech_12_2020

Telecom
December 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 16
Lithuanian telecom giant’s market value surges past €1bn after 5G launch
Lithuania’s telecom giant Telia Lietuva saw its market value surge past the €1bn mark for the first time last week after announcing the launch of its next-generation 5G mobile network for testing in Lithuania in the first fortnight of November.
The price of the company's shares has leapt by 5.3% since the launch of the network on November 10.
Data from the Nasdaq Vilnius Stock Exchange show that Telia Lietuva surpassed the €1bn mark for the first time on November 16.
Telia Lietuva's stock began to rise after the company announced on November 10 that it was the first
in Lithuania to start testing 11 5G base stations in the city centres of Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda.
Telia Lietuva CFO Arunas Linge says the new generation connectivity is expected to spur new business models and lead to a qualitative leap in education, medicine or transport.
The company's market capitalisation has increased by a third from €742.8mn in early 2020.
Telia Lietuva is the Baltic countries' second- largest company by market capitalisation
after Ignitis Grupe, Lithuania's state-controlled energy group that debuted on the stock
market last month. The energy company's market capitalisation currently stands at just over €1.5bn.
Sweden's Telia Company held 88.15% of shares in Telia Lietuva at the end of 3Q20.
Lithuanian competition taskforce clears telecom Bite's €20mn purchase of Mezon
Lithuanian telecoms major Bite Lietuva announced on November 27 it has been green-lit by the country's competition watchdog to buy the internet, data transmission and IPTV business developed under the Mezon brand from state-owned Lietuvos Radijo ir Televizijos Centras (Lithuanian Radio and Television Center, or Telecentras).
The deal, worth over €20mn, is expected to be closed in late December 2020.
The Lithuanian Competition Council said on November 27 it cleared the deal after Bite committed not to transfer, lease or otherwise provide access to Mezon's 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequencies to Centuria, a joint venture between Bite and Tele2.
Bite also committed not to ask the Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT) for permission to transfer or lease these frequencies to the joint venture and not to use them for providing mobile internet access services.
The competition watchdog ruled that the deal will not give Bite a competitive advantage in the near future in developing a next-generation (5G) wireless network.
Bite CEO Pranas Kuisys said in a statement that the acquisition will help "deliver more value to Mezon's customers and employees."
Bite Finance International, part of the Cayman- registered Providence Equity Partners, owns 100% of Bite Lietuva.