By merging with Baltcom, Bite Latvija will have the largest service portfolio in the industry

In order to provide retail and business customers in Latvia with the widest range of electronic communications and information and communication technology (ICT) services on the market in one place, the merger of two Bites Group companies – Baltcom and Bite Latvija – has been launched. It will be completed this summer, and at the end of the merger process, the ICT company Bite Latvija will continue to provide all existing Baltcom services  under Bite brand. Currently, Baltcom customers do not have to do anything – neither prices nor the range of services change.

By merging with Baltcom, Bite Latvija will become the only mobile operator in Latvia that will own not only a 4G/5G mobile network, television, and data centres for the placement of customer hardware, but also a nationwide optical infrastructure designed specifically for connecting end customers and households.

"The merger of the two companies is a step closer to our long-term development goal – to strengthen the position of Bite Latvija in the market of electronic communications services and ICT by offering customers the widest possible portfolio of services. After the merger, the main beneficiaries will be our current and future customers, who will be able to purchase home and office internet service, using fiber or 5G networks, market leading Go3 television, voice services, various IoT and ICT services for business as well as a wide range of device offers in Bite shops, web shop and call centre," says Arunas Mickevicius, CEO of Bite Latvia. 

Bite Latvija acquired Baltcom in 2020 after receiving permission from the Competition Council to close the acquisition transaction and start merger of companies. Mergers within a group are a natural step in view of the development of the telecommunications market, where synergy and concentration of forces in three main areas are important – mobile communications, the Internet and integrated ICT solutions, high-quality television, and video content.

“We are excited to be part of this ambitious project and together with Bite becoming the first convergent operator in Latvia – operating its own mobile and fixed networks. By merging our customer service facilities, network infrastructure and business know-how we will be able to deliver a full range of excellent services to the market. After the completion of the project, Baltcom customers will benefit from additional services available to them and broad geographical coverage of Bite stores with abundant choice of the most modern consumer electronics,” says Dmitrijs Nikitins, CEO of Baltcom.

Baltcom's customers do not have to do anything at the moment – neither the prices nor the range of services change. After the merger of the two companies, Baltcom's customers will not only be offered the widest range of electronic communications and ICT services on the market, but the customer service options will be expanded – in the 31 Bites shops throughout Latvia, customer call centre and on Bite digital channels – the self-service portal ManaBite as well as Bite web shop.

The purchase agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the telecommunications company Baltcom was signed by Bite Latvija in September 2019, but the conclusion of the transaction required the permission of the Competition Council, which was received in February 2020. The amount of the transaction is confidential. 

As of February 14, all the necessary documentation for starting the process will be submitted to the Register of Enterprises.

About Bite Latvija

Bite is the fastest growing information and communication technology company in Latvia, which for more than a decade has been providing modern, innovative mobile and fixed communications services that meet the needs of customers, next-generation television Go3 and integrated ICT solutions for business customers. The company invests about 10% of its turnover annually in the development of mobile network infrastructure and services. Currently, Bite Latvija 5G is available to 1,000,000 residents of Latvia.

About Baltcom

Baltcom was founded in 1991 and is the largest private company of fixed telecommunications in Latvia. The company offers optical internet, interactive television, digital television, home telephony and electricity. Baltcom services are available in Riga, Jelgava, Ogre, Jurmala, Daugavpils, Rezekne, Jekabpils and other cities in Latvia. In 2020, Baltcom became a subsidiary of Bite Latvija SIA, thus joining the Bite Group.