Dutch "Greenhouse telecommunications" to enter market of Serbia - Internet operators "Media Works" and "Neobee" taken over

- Holding "Greenhouse telecommunications" has obtained 22.5m EUR from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other investors to enter telecommunications market in Serbia - it was announced today (May 14, 2009).

The President of the Board of Directors of "Greenhouse telecommunications" from Netherlands, David Schoch, said at the press conference that that company had taken over Internet operators "Media Works" and "Neobee", as well as that it had opened another six bids for takeover.

He explained to the press that the names of the companies that "Greenhouse" planned to take over were business secret.

When asked if the company was going to take part in the tender for the fixed telephony license, which should be announced in 2009, Schoch said that "Greenhouse telecommunications" was interested in that tender, but that it planned to offer telephone and other telecommunications services to its clients.

The Director General of "Media Works", Slobodan Đinović, said that "Media Works" had applied for CDMA licenses for supply of phone and internet services, and he added that he expected that the company would manage to win one of the two licenses.

- If it receives license for CDMA, "Media Works" plans to provides phone services in both rural and urban areas and to become a competitor to "Telekom", which is, for the time being, the only fixed telephony operator in Serbia - said Đinović.

He said that his company provided high-speed Internet services to business users in wireless fixed technology WiMax, for which it got license prior to year 2014.

Phone services can also be provided through WiMax, but the open competition for WiMax licenses in Serbia has been postponed, so that those who received that frequency range to use can not use it for telephony services at the moment.

Đinović said that "Greenhouse" intended to invest major share of 22.5m EUR, collected by that company for investments in Serbia, in WiMax services and infrastructure, and he expected that the open competition would be announced soon.

It was said at the press conference that "Greenhouse" planned to invest between 40 and 50m EUR in the Balkans within the next eight years.

"Greenhouse" is not going to operate in Serbia under that name. The companies it takes over will resume their operations under their own names.