A new era: Two major telecom companies merge in Hungary
As of 1 January 2025, two major telecom companies, Vodafone Hungary and DIGI have ceased to exist as separate entities following a merger of the 4iG Group’s telecommunications brands. This consolidation brings Vodafone Hungary, DIGI, Antenna Hungária, and Invitech under a single brand: One.
The transition involves temporary service disruptions for Vodafone Hungary customers between 31 December 2024, at 3:00 PM and 2 January 2025, at 7:00 AM, 24.hu reports. During this period, online services, mobile payment options, the My Vodafone app, and other features, including balance top-ups, data purchases, and toll and parking payments, will be unavailable.
Websites associated with the former brands, such as digi.hu and vodafone.hu, have also been retired, with the new centralised site, one.hu, set to go live soon.
Current customers of telecom giants Vodafone and DIGI need not worry about their services. Contracts and service terms remain unchanged, and there will be no automatic changes to plans or tariffs due to the rebranding.
Vodafone entered the Hungarian market in 1999, and in 2023, 4iG Plc., in partnership with the Hungarian state, acquired the company for HUF 660 billion (EUR 1.60 billion). This latest step signifies a major transformation in Hungary’s telecommunications landscape.
Read also:
This is never a good thing and is a symptom of what is called late-stage capitalism: the point at which there is no real competition in the market because it is totally cornered by one or two massive conglomerates and the barriers to entry (usually due to government overreach in the meantime) are too high for any newcomers to be able to enter.
The biggest loser is, of course, the little guy: the consumer.
What’s the solution? Beats me. Capitalism is by far the best system we ever came up with but this is its natural trajectory. It is a victim of its own success, causing it to eventually lead to an effective monopoly.
Orban controlling more and more, month by month! Putin’s puppet!