There are four MNOs in the Hungarian market, Magyar Telekom (59.3% owned by Deutsche Telekom), Yettel (owned by PPF Group and rebranded from Telenor), Vodafone (acquired by 4iG and the Hungarian state), and DIGI (which is also owned by 4iG and is Hungary’s newes market entrant with the smallest market share). 4iG, via Antenna Hungaria, and in partnership with the Hungarian state, completed the acquisition of Vodafone Hungary earlier in 2023. Antenna Hungaria acquired 51% with the Hungarian state taking the other 49% via investment vehicle Corvinus.
4iG has announced it has sold Digi’s 2,500 towers and active equipment alongside licensed 1800MHz spectrum to state-owned Pro-M for HUF68 bn (US$199mn) in line with its strategy for infrastructure separation. The deal is expected to complete in 2024.
Vodafone has carved out their tower portfolio into their pan-European towerco, Vantage Towers which has a portfolio of 2,300 sites in Hungary. In July 2020, Telenor Hungary (now Yettel) followed in the footsteps of PPF’s Czech opco (O2 Czech Republic) and separated out their retail and infrastructure divisions, with their infrastructure carved out
into CETIN. CETIN’s remit extends much beyond towers, with CETIN taking ownership of the operator’s metallic cable pairs, fibre and indoor and outdoor base stations. In Q4 2021, PPF agreed the sale of a 30% stake in CETIN to Singapore’s GIC investment fund.
Magyar Telecom, the Hungarian incumbent, is 59.3% owned by Deutsche Telekom which has not yet announced carve out plans for its assets in the country. Romanian owned DIGI launched mobile operations in Hungary in 2019, although the operator was excluded from the country’s 5G auctions. It sold its Hungarian business to 4iG and exited the market in early 2022. Broadcast towerco, Antenna Hungaria (which is also owned by
4iG) is understood to own around 220 towers in the country and also leases space to telecom operators. It owned a 25% stake in both Yettel and CETIN but in Q1 2023 Antenna Hungaria swapped its 25% stake in the Hungarian subsidiaries of PPF Telecom Group for 19.5% of Vodafone shares, increasing its stake in Vodafone Hungary to 70.5% and ceasing to have any shareholding in Hungarian Yettel and CETIN.
