The Hungarian Parliament has now passed the telecommunications law, paving the way for sale late next year of a 35% stake in the national phone company Hungarian Telecommunications Co to one or more foreign telephone operators – Cable & Wireless Plc, US West Inc, Bell Canada Ltd, France Telecom and the Deutsche Bundespost Telekom have all expressed interest: the company has net assets valued at $1,200m and the price put on it is likely to be well north of the asset value; the new law phases out the local monopoly over two years, but retains the long distance and international monopoly for at least three years.
