Netia and EuroZet join to create portal
Following the lead of other telecom companies that have taken the plunge or plan to take the plunge into cyberspace, Netia Holdings said it has teamed up with media holding group EuroZet to start a news and entertainment business-to-consumer portal, according to a prepared statement released by Netia last Thursday.
Netia, the nation's largest local fixed-line operator, said it had an initial agreement with EuroZet, the owner of Radio Zet, to develop the portal, but the company's statement offered no specific information about how much money it would invest in its internet project or a description of the portal.
The announcement came within weeks after Netia said in late March that it would start dial-up internet access service this month through Internetia (www.internetia.pl), its internet portal subsidiary.
In the new deal, Netia will supply internet telecommunications infrastructure connections, while EuroZet will provide news content from its staff of 60 Radio Zet journalists as well as use its advertising, media-buying and multimedia production companies to support the portal, the statement said.
Radio Zet cranks out a mix of news and music that's popular with the yuppie set. The station is the third most listened to national broadcaster after RMF FM and Polskie Radio's Program 1.
"The powerful combination of EuroZet's content with Netia's connectivity platforms supports our vision of Internetia as the leading Polish internet service and content provider," said Meir Srebernik, Netia's president and chief executive officer, in the statement.
In a separate announcement also released Thursday, Netia said it signed a cooperation agreement with media giant Agora, the publisher of the nation's largest national daily Gazeta Wyborcza. The two companies intend to link the home page of Netia's Internetia portal and Gazeta Wyborcza's web site (www.gazeta.pl). The deal was made to promote and market both companies' web sites and internet services, the statement said.
Earlier this month, Agora signed a letter of intent with systems integrator and financial software producer Softbank to start a portal focusing on personal finance.
