Telekom says it has just six percent of media market

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Telekom Serbia told the European Parliament that the media outlets that it controls have a six percent share of the market which, according to the state-controlled company, means that there can be no mention of a concentration of media under its control.

MEPs have filed a number of amendments to a report on Serbia by Rapporteur Vladimir Bilcik, alleging that the Serbian authorities are trying to control the media market in the country. Telekom has been lobbying to have any mention of it removed from the amendemnts and report.

Telekom’s claim of a small market share indicates that the company’s huge investments are paying off. Those include the purchase of several small cable operators and six years of Premier League TV rights. The six percent of the market costs 240 million Euro a year in rights. Telekom’s Arena sports channels, which air Premier League matches, allegedly have a market share of just 1.57 percent.

Telekom CEO Vladimir Lucic claimed recently that the number of subscribers is rising. The company claims to have 3.1 million subscribers who pay about 2 Euro a month for each of its sports channels.