Vodafone's Ode To A Grecian Hellas: 73% Stake In The Telephony Provider

Vodafone's Ode To A Grecian Hellas: 73% Stake In The Telephony Provider

If you cannot innovate and be original, there is always hell to pay. British telecom firm Vodafone is picking up the call when it comes to Greek broadband and fixed line telephony provider Hellas Online. Vodafone is acquiring a 73% stake in the telecom services company for 73 million Euros which amounts to USD 97 million.

Vodafone hopes to outrun the competition through this new acquisition. The British telecom firm is definitely correct in perceiving that competition is fierce in the telecom sector. With the growth of e-commerce and entertainment, broadband and telephony services are sectors which will boom in coming times.

This is not the first time Vodafone has purchased a stake in Hellas. In the year 2009, the British telecom firm had purchased an 18.5% stake in the Greek firm. The purchase on the part of Vodafone will help it to create better service offerings for customers in Greece. It will also compete with market leader OTE.

The completion of the transaction will occur during the final quarter of 2014. Vodafone Greece now takes over ownership of around 91.2% of Hellas Online. The obligation on the part of the Brit firm to cough up an extension of a mandatory takeover for leftover shares is high.

This is not bad news for Vodafone either considering that Hellas now has about 519,000 customers towards the end of last year. This represents a market share of around 11%. To challenge OTE's winning strak in the market, Vodafone had made several attempts to snare the Grecian “earn” in another avatar. The British telecom firm had tried a merger with the third biggest Grecian operator Wind Hellas, but the winds of change did not blow. Undaunted, Vodafone had tried to join hands with Wind Hellas for Greece's largest subscription TV provider Forthnet, but no business was forthcoming from that either.

This time however, the call came through and Vodafone has acquired the stake to catch a big break in the southern European country. There is no beating the Mandarin dragon though. Vodafone is the second largest wireless operator as judged in terms of number of subscribers following China Mobile Ltd. Newbury based Vodafone will now be leading the bid to unseat the Chinese dragon from its numero uno position.

But that itself will only be possible if the British telecom giant also reinvents itself in fast-growing mobile markets such as India and China. Look East is not just a popular foreign policy, it is a very lucrative method for snaring the mobile cash cow as well.

With so many numbers in Asia and growth that is rapid beyond words, Vodafone should not leave out the challenge of ringing the bell and reaching for the stars in booming markets. Of course, its mastery in southern Europe is a triumph. Vodafone has dialled the right number with Hellas if growth through expansion is a call it has taken in light of massive competition.