TELESTET Hellas (1992–2004)
In 1992, TELESTET Hellas was founded, as a subsidiary of the Italian company STET. Through this, Telestet started its commercial operation. On September 30, 1992 the Greek Ministry of Transport and Communications issued a license to STET to create a national mobile telephony services network (GSM).[1] The company invested the sum of 30 billion Greek drachmas (about 88 million Euros) to create the network. This constituted one of the biggest investments in Greece since the end of the Second World War.
Commercial operation started on June 29, 1993 when the first call from a mobile phone took place in the country.[6]
In 1998 TELESTET was the first Greek mobile telephone communications company to be listed in international stock markets, the Nasdaq in New York City and the Euronext Amsterdam.
From September 23, 1999, TELESTET operated Iridium, the first mobile-telephony dedicated satellite in Greece.[7]
In June 2001, TELESTET was the first telecommunications company in Greece and one of the first in the world to obtain ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management certification.
In June 2001 the operator's GPRS service went live. In July 2001 it was awarded the licence to offer a UMTS service for a concession fee of €146.7 million. The UMTS service went live on January 27, 2004.
TIM Hellas (2004–2007)
On February 8, 2004, the company name changed to TIM Hellas,[8] a part of Telecom Italia and member of FreeMove, the biggest telecommunications alliance in Europe that consists of the companies Orange (UK/France/Switzerland), Telefónica (Spain), ΤΙΜ (Italy) and T-Mobile (Germany).
On April 4, 2005 TIM agreed to sell its 80.87% equity stake in TIM Hellas to funds advised by Apax Partners and TPG Inc. The transaction was for €1,114.1 million which valued TIM Hellas at €1,600 million or €16.43 per share. The transaction was completed following approval by state authorities in July 2005.
On January 31, 2006 TIM Hellas acquired Q-Telecom,[6] Greece’s 4th mobile operator, for €350 million and in May 2007 the two mobile networks were merged.[9]
Wind Hellas (2007–2021)
On February 7, 2007, Apax Partners and TPG announced that TIM Hellas had been purchased outright by Weather Investments, the telecom holding company of Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris, for 500 million Euros of equity plus 2.9 billion Euros of net debt.[11] The company name changed to Wind Hellas on June 5, 2007,[12] in line with Italian telecom operator Wind Telecomunicazioni.
In December 2009, Nassos Zarkalis, previously head of Hellas Online, became CEO of Wind Hellas.
On October 18, 2010 the principal shareholders in Wind Hellas (Mount Kellett Capital, Taconic Capital Advisers, Providence Equity, Anchorage Capital Group, Angelo Gordon and Eton Park International) took over the company and injected 420 million Euros to reduce debt and fund long-term development plans.[13]
Acquisition by the United Group and merger with Nova Greece (2021–present)
On August 16, 2021 it was announced that United Group, which owns Nova Greece, had purchased Wind Hellas for about 1 billion euros after weeks of negotiations with the shareholders of Wind Hellas,[14][15] and then on January 2, 2023 WIND Hellas merged into Nova Greece, abandoning its own brand in favor of that of the acquiring company.[16][17][18]
