Final Word from Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Vodafone is fighting for its life in the CR, yet the man trying to keep the noose from tightening around its neck is an Indian, GM Balesh Sharma, who doesn't speak Czech and has never before worked in Central Europe. Foreign investors often have a dilemma: Appoint a foreigner who knows little about the local market, or risk hiring a Czech who knows perhaps too much about how things work and is more susceptible to doing a deal with the locals. The worst of both worlds is the foreigner who adapts to the bad side of the local culture, which is apparently what O2 ended up with. Even under the Spaniards, "Český Telecom" was able to persuade the regulator to see things its way and continued to have great success in selling ICT services to the government. Only when a stronger player, PPF, got involved did the tide start turning. But with PPF now in charge at O2, Sharma of Vodafone is talking in HN today about an effort to create a monopoly (not a duopoly, mind you, but a monopoly). Does Sharma really have a chance against Petr Kellner? [Czech Republic telecommunications Telefónica Spain ČTÚ]
Glossary of difficult words
susceptible - likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing;
ICT - information and communications (or computer) technology;
to turn the tide - to reverse the trend of events;
duopoly - a situation in which two suppliers dominate the market for a commodity or service.