Nikola Tomić, a media consultant, stated on TV Prva that the major sale of United Group’s business will have multiple, highly positive impacts, not only for the citizens of Serbia and the Telekom Srbija company but also for society as a whole.
“There will no longer be ‘parallel dimensions of existence’ between the users of the two major operators. People in our country, regardless of which cable network they use, will finally have access to all sports content in one place. Arena Sport channels, along with their numerous attractive contents, will also feature all Sport Klub content, such as Euroleague, F1, and MotoGP, and will be available across all networks. This has been officially confirmed. Additionally, and this is more of my personal assessment, ‘a well-founded assumption,’ all other channels owned by Telekom, both entertainment and news, will also be available to all operators. This will be of great significance for users, offering diversity and improving the quality of the media offer,” Tomić commented, describing this as a “tectonic change” that should have a very positive impact on society as a whole.
According to him, Telekom Srbija has achieved massive results in the sale of United Group’s “core” business.
“Among other things, Telekom has gained over 300,000 new users in one move, including 100,000 users of the NetTV digital platform in the diaspora, which is particularly significant given Telekom’s international expansion. Additionally, more than 200,000 users of Total TV in Serbia and North Macedonia. Even more importantly, Arena Sport, with its comprehensive sports content offering, is now the absolute dominant player across the entire Western Balkans. It’s especially valuable that Telekom has managed this large deal using available funds, without additional financial burdens, and that we can expect a significant reduction in the cost of sports TV rights,” Tomić emphasized.
He also pointed out that all conditions are now met for Telekom Serbia to fulfill its ambition of becoming a global company, especially in light of the company’s strategic investments in artificial intelligence and startups.
Serbia remains stable for investment
Tomić also highlighted that at this very moment, a deal worth a total of 1.5 billion euros is taking place in Serbia.
“Amidst the atmosphere of street protests, blockades, and a sense of instability in the state and society, we have the fact that an Arab-Czech operator has decided to buy SBB and expand its operations in our country with an investment of over 800 million euros. Also, it’s worth noting that recently, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani called on businesses from his country to continue investing in Serbia. The current President of the EU, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has stated that our country is not in a state of instability, and even Donald Trump’s son confirmed to the New York Times the business launch in Serbia. Furthermore, two international credit agencies have confirmed Serbia’s very good rating. This gives the impression that the perceived instability in the country is more a matter of local perceptions and emotions in part of the public than an objective situation because international big business always looks at things realistically,” Tomić concluded.
