“In 2015 we will direct the bulk of our planned investments, of over EUR160 million, to continue network development. Part of this budget will come from the exploitation of collateral assets, such as real estate and the old copper-based infrastructure,” said Beckers.
The group invested EUR170 million last year.
Last year, Telekom Romania had revenues of EUR25.6 million from selling old and collateral assets, which it used for investments. This year’s asset sale revenues are estimated at EUR25-29 million.
Beckers said integrated offers are the future of the telecom industry.
“Briefly, land line-mobile convergent services can be summarized as follows: all from one provider, best value, maximum comfort, one invoice, one call center and an attractive offer on terminals. But we will not stop here. We will improve processes, will expand our product range and will make sure we offer our land line-mobile customers the best and fastest call center service. Soon, these clients’ calls will be taken by the call center in less than 10 seconds,” he said.
Since the launch of the T brand on the Romanian market in September 2014 and until the end of the year, Telekom Romania gained 46,000 customers for land line-mobile packages, according to company data.
According to Beckers, Telekom Romania will continue transferring current customers to IP (Internet Protocol) technology and the group will continue to expand its fiber optic network, estimated to cover one million households by the end of the year and two million by the end of 2016. On the mobile segment, 4G coverage is set to double by the end of this year.
He added the sale of collateral assets will finance the company’s development and generate revenue for current operations.
“The sale of certain properties in 2015 is estimated to bring in tens of millions of euros we can invest in network development,” said Beckers.
In September 2014, Telekom Romania Communications, the landline division, and Telekom Romania Mobile Communications became the new names of operators Romtelecom and Cosmote Romania.
Telekom Romania Communications (formerly Romtelecom) is one of the largest local telecom operators. It is owned by Greek telecom group OTE (owned by Deutsche Telekom) – 54.01% and the Romanian Ministry for Information Society – 44.99%.
Telekom Romania Mobile Communications (formerly Cosmote Romania) is owned by Cosmote Group, part of OTE Group – 70% and Romtelecom – 30%.
Telekom Romania is a brand owned by Deutsche Telekom.
Telekom Romania’s revenues declined 1.5% on the year in 2014, to EUR1 billion, due to a decline in revenues generated by its mobile operations division.
Its EBITDA (earnings before interests, tax, depreciation and amortization) dropped 6% in 2014, to EUR266 million from EUR283 million in 2013.