By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN
BERLIN — Since Europe deregulated its telecommunications industry in 1998, most E.U. governments have gotten out of the business. Britain unloaded BT, for example, the Netherlands ditched KPN and Spain sold Telefónica.
But Hungary is going in the other direction. The country, an E.U. member already under fire for laws restricting media freedom and the independence of its central bank, is seeking to get back into the mobile phone business as a telecommunications operator.
The Hungarian telecommunications regulator is poised to award a mobile phone operator’s license to a consortium of three state-owned companies in an auction that ends Jan. 31.
The move has angered the three existing telecommunications operators — Magyar Telekom, the former monopoly that is 59 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom; Telenor Hungary, a unit of the Norwegian operator; and Vodafone Hungary. These operators fear the creation of a formidable rival that will upset what has been a relatively stable market.
Representatives for the operators declined to comment publicly, citing the Hungarian government’s ban on public communication before the results are announced. But two people close to the operators with knowledge of their plans said the private carriers were wary of the government’s actions.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/23/technology/hungary-moving-back-into-telecommunications-sector.html