British company Vodafone announced on Monday that it will sell its Hungarian operations for 715 billion forints ($1.8 billion) in cash, resulting in the establishment of a locally-owned telecoms industry leader in the nation of central Europe.
The Hungarian 4iG and state-run Corvinus Zrt, the buyers, and the British mobile phone and broadband group claimed to have reached non-binding terms.
The transaction, which excludes Vodafone’s shared services company VOIS, is anticipated to result in the creation of Hungary’s second-largest telecom operator.
In a statement, Vodafone Chief Executive Nick Read stated that “The Hungarian Government has a clear objective to develop a Hungarian owned national champion in the (information and communications technology) sector.”
By the end of 2022, it’s anticipated that the sale will be finished.
According to a Vodafone representative, the money would be used to reduce debt on the company’s balance sheet as it seeks to expand into new markets.
According to a top executive, Vodafone Idea is concentrating on partnerships to expand its enterprise solutions vertical in its effort to transition from a telco to a techco in the 5G future.
The ecosystem for 5G is still developing. Arvind Nevatia, chief enterprise business officer at Vodafone, stated, “Our intention is to work across industry, work across different use cases to try and see if you can stimulate and work with users to identify ways to accelerate the adoption of use cases.
