Bit worrying, isn’t it, that state dinosaurs like Stet SpA and Deutsche Bundespost Telekom should be bidding fiercely with money they don’t have to win for their consortia a 30% stake and management control in Matav, the Hungarian telephone company: when a company like Cable & Wireless Plc, one of the few truly commercial companies with no hidden agenda – such as a Baby Bell might have in winning a privileged relationship with Bundespost Telekom, pulls out because it would be required to pay too much for too little, you have to wonder whether the winner will end up finding itself left with a poisoned chalice.
