Greece's OTE says to invest 1.2 bln eur in next four years

ATHENS, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Greece's biggest telecoms company OTE, a unit of Deutsche Telekom (LSE: 0MPH.L - news) , said on Wednesday it planned to invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.62 billion) to upgrade its Greek network over the next four years.

A big part of the money will go towards financing new generation networks in fixed and mobile telephony, OTE's chief executive officer Michael Tsamaz said after meeting Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) , which is trying to challenge OTE's leadership in the Greek mobile phone market, announced earlier this month it planned to build a 4G network in the austerity-hit country.

OTE's mobile phone unit Cosmote already runs a 4G network in Greece and also expands its television business to retain customers who are switching to cheaper rivals.