Magyar Telekom
Magyar Telekom Nyrt. (officially "Magyar Telekom Távközlési Nyilvánosan Működő Részvénytársaság," ) is a Hungarian telecommunications company. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. Until 6 May 2005, it was known as Matáv ("Magyar Távközlési Rt." – Hungarian Telecommunications PLC). The company was formed under the name of "Magyar Távközlési Vállalat" (Hungarian Telecommunications Enterprise) in December 1989, when "Magyar Posta" (Hungarian Post) was split into three separate enterprises. On 31 December 1991, the company was re-structured as a public limited company as "Magyar Távközlési Rt.", and the company remained in 100% state ownership until the end of 1993. On 1  July 1993, the Telecommunications Act came into effect, making it possible to privatize the company. A consortium was formed between Deutsche Telekom and Ameritech, which was named "MagyarCom", and bought into the company a share of 30.1% for a price of US$875 million. History. Early years. On 31 December 1989, after becoming one of the three sections of the Hungarian Post service area, the Hungarian Telecommunications Company (Matáv) was founded in 1991 on 31 December as telecommunications operator Magyar Telecom Rt. The company was completely owned by the state until the end of 1993, when the Telecommunications Act, which  is classified as a service concession to the public telephone, mobile telephone, paging and public service, came into effect 1 July 1993. A contract ended on 22 December, and Matáv became the owner of 30.1% of Deutsche Telekom and Ameritech International telecommunications companies, MagyarCom Consortium. During the privatization process MagyarCom acquired a majority stake under the contract signed on 22 December 1995. The effect of the two companies forming a consortium of $852 million to 67.3% was Central and Eastern Europe's largest privatization, and also the largest foreign investment in Hungary. Deutsche Telekom's majority. On 14 November  1997, the trading of Matáv shares began in Budapest and New York City, placing 26.31% of the shares on the market, which was the largest share subscription ever held in Hungary, making Matáv the first Central European company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In the summer of 1999, ÁPV Rt. (Hungary's State Privatization Property Agency) sold the last package of shares of Hungary's 5.75%, but still held the golden share. On 3 July 2000, in accordance with the shareholder agreement between SBC and Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Telekom acquired SBC's 50% stake in MagyarCom . As a result of the change in the ownership structure of MagyarCom, Deutsche Telekom's ownership in Matáv increased to 59.52%, the remaining 40.48% public shareholding, while the golden share was owned by Hungary. Internationalization. Since 2001, it was possible for Matáv to become an international telecommunications group. The consortium led by Matáv acquired a majority stake in Macedonia's national telecommunications company Makedonski Telekomunikacii (MakTel), which became a consolidated subsidiary of the group. As a further step, Matáv acquired the remaining 50% stake in Emitel Rt. The group's companies took leading positions in the mobile phone, internet and  business data communications markets, with a share of over 80% in the fixed phone market. A new governance structure of the group was adopted at the end of 2001. As of January 2002, a new corporate structure was introduced, where four business areas were the basis for the operation: retail services, business solutions, Internet, and mobile. Rebranding. In 2002, the Matáv Group obtained group-level certification in accordance with , certified by SGS S.A. Matáv also wanted to lead telecommunications and Internet services in Hungary, as evidenced by the 100,000th ADSL subscription acquired in December 2003. In mobile telephones, number portability  was a minor difficulty, but the Westel division of the group solved the problem in 2004. In March 2004, the group decided to replace the Westel name, which had existed since 1989, and joined the global T-Mobile brand on 1 May 2004. Subsequently, the Matáv Group decided to consolidate and merge, subordinating the structure of the group of companies on 1 January 2005, and then on 6 May all its services and operational organizations under central management and the group of companies. It changed its company name, and from that date, the Magyar Telekom Group operated as a group  of "T" brand names. On 8 November 2005, Magyar Telekom agreed to purchase Orbitel (Bulgaria's telecommunications provider), a transaction that ended on 3 February 2006. The merge caused T-Mobile Magyarország Rt. and Magyar Telekom Rt. to stop existing, and András Sugár, CEO of T-Mobile, resigned. At the same time, "Magyar Telekom Távközlési Nyilvánosan Működő Részvénytársaság" took over their role from 1 March 2006. Leaving the New York Stock Exchange. In order to simplify the structure of financial reporting and reduce administrative costs, Magyar Telekom withdrew from the New York Stock Exchange on 12 November 2010, while continuing  its listing on the Budapest Stock Exchange. 4G technology in Hungary. On 1 January 2012, Telekom was the first telecommunications company in Hungary to launch its 4G/LTE-based mobile Internet service, which provided full outdoor 4G coverage of Budapest and 4G mobile internet to almost 27% of the country's population. Controversies. In July 2017, T-Systems Hungary, a subsidiary of Magyar Telekom, launched an online ticket service for BKK, the unified transport operator of Budapest, Hungary. The application allegedly contained multiple security bugs. T-Systems Hungary reported online attacks on the application to the local  authorities. One major bug was reported to BKK by an 18-year-old student, who was later detained by the police in the middle of the night, causing a public outcry, as it was revealed that the detention was ordered after the report by T-Systems. Many comments and negative ratings were added to T-Systems and BKK's social media pages.