György Back, chairman of Vodafone’s Hungarian unit said that the strategic cooperation agreements which the Hungarian government keeps signing with different companies (including Microsoft, Coca Cola and others) fail to provide the companies with the means to influence the cabinet’s sometimes punitive economic policy. He said “it’s unclear what the agreements are about. There’s no forum to discuss telecommunications issues, no dialogue, while drastic changes have hit us over the past three-four months.”
Vodafone is currently deciding where to establish its new software development center: either in Romania or in Hungary. Beck said that right now Romania has a better chance. The telecoms sector is an important player on the Hungarian market, claiming it generates 10 percent of Hungary’s GDP; however, it has been hit by hard taxes. The government levied a tax for every minute users speak on their phones and is planning to introduce a new levy on utility networks.
