Friday, June 22, 2007

Orange to buy One


Orange just bought One, the #3 mobile operator in Austria.
This might finally end the lethargy at One, who had a mixture of stake holders, like Eon, Tele Danmark, Telenor and Orange. None of them seemed really eager to invest in the past with One really not having a bright future and being the constant subject of take-over rumors.

Now that Orange (and Mid Europe Partners, an investment firm, who will probably just act as a proxy to Orange/FT) bought 100% of One this might - and hopefully: will - change. To me, One in the past had no clear profile or positioning; they were (and currently still are) neither a (cheap) residential provider, nor a proper business provider.

This still leaves 4 operators in the small Austrian market:
Price-wars are still going on - see the Austrian 3G data rates, e.g. one 3GB for 20 EUR per montgh, or "3" who priced the 3GB at 19 EUR. Frankly, I don't see that ending with this transaction, this is not a consolidation - might be the opposite: One now finally might have the energy to fully compete, not only on price.

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