MT to merge wholesale voice division with German parent

Hungary’s largest telecoms operator by subscribers and revenues, Magyar Telekom (MT), is merging its international voice wholesale unit with that of its parent company, Deutsche Telekom (DT), in a move designed to cut costs and moderate group-level redundancies. According to Reuters, the plan will be implemented from 1 January 2008 at which date DT will be the ‘exclusive partner’ of MT for international voice carrier services. The Hungarian firm says that while it expects to see a loss in revenues from international voice call services, the savings achieved at a group level will more than offset the decline.