Predrag Ćulibrk: "Telecom" buys cable operators | Economy

TELEKOM Serbia negotiates with a number of cable operators and plans to acquire several companies in this area – announced the general manager of Telekom Srbija Predrag Ćulibrk in a conversation with "Novosti" , recalling that in recent years, it has a stable 46% share in the mobile telephony market and about 25% in the television segment

* Which companies are we talking about?

– Negotiations are open and that's all we can say about it. If and when an agreement is reached, "Telekom Srbija", as a transparent society, will not hide anything from the public in this respect.

* Do you have any financial capacity for these plans?

– We have it. With the great understanding of our majority shareholder, the Republic of Serbia, I think we can invest even more significantly not only by our own investments in infrastructure, but also by acquisitions in the coming period. During the previous period, we reduced the company's debt from 700 million euros to just under 300 million euros. In the last five years, on behalf of dividends, including the current payment, we have paid more than 450 million euros and invested more than 600 million euros in infrastructure, systems and equipment. computer … We are now ready for a new period. All this has led to great confidence in the group of financial institutions "Telekom Srbija" and we are really optimistic that in the next period we can make bigger steps and improve the market position mainly in the field of TV services .

– Market movements are such that new players enter, some announce large investments, others announce their exit … Today, on the telecommunications market in Serbia, at the same time With the exception of three dominant mobile operators, there are 90 TV service operators, around 200 ISPs and more than 20 fixed-line operators. One can expect a more serious market consolidation in the coming period, in order to bring the number of operators to a more reasonable level, able to generate market growth and new investments and thus put implement the new services expected. "Telekom Srbija" will not be out of the way, and therefore also mentioned plans for acquisitions.

Photo by P.Mitić

* The most recent is the change of the owner of Telenor

– The new owner of Telenor, This fund is not unknown in the telecommunications market because it owns operators in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I believe that they have thought well about their steps in entering this market. I consider that Serbia and the whole region generally have good indicators and that a significant economic growth is expected in the coming period.

* The Austrian A1 has recently announced a billion euros for acquisitions in the region, again evoking the possible purchase of Telekom Srbija

] – I have not this information, I repeat that the amount of one billion euros is certainly not ready for the purchase of Telekom Srbija, because I think that our company is worth more. I understood this message sent from Vienna as the mood of this company that invests in the region some funds in order to repair the market positions of existing operations in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In general, we take all market initiatives seriously and adapt our strategy to market trends.

* As soon as the network Telekom Serbia appeared

– With the famous company Huawei, we started this investment and the construction of the network is currently It takes place in more than 15 cities, including Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac , Nis, Smederevo, Subotica, Cacak, Jagodina … We are in this project and we are doing it well. There are lots of users who are able to get the latest quality of service, Internet speeds of up to one gigabyte per second. In the coming period, a more intense approach to offering these best door-to-door services is offered. The strategic commitment of "Telekom Srbija" is to improve the infrastructure that will be able to provide all services in the next 20-30 years to users

Photo by P.Mitić

* What is the meaning of the optical network?

– Today, the average household consumes the Internet and all services and content on the Internet on multiple devices at the same time. That's exactly what is the optical network. A large number of users will be able to use the television, the game at the same time … Without the optical network, it will be difficult to realize the 5G technology in the full sense.

READ: The Austrians again want Telekom

the field of digitization and digital transformation?

– When the initiative comes from the top of the country, then it is realistic that it be implemented and that Serbia enters seriously into the digital world, for which adequate infrastructure is needed. Three pillars are indispensable for successful digitization: the first is the technology claud, other centers of 'big data' – the collection and processing of information, and the third network says IoT – 'l & # 39, Internet of Things ". Without the IoT network, there is no digital transformation in the full sense. "Telekom Srbija" officially launches the first IoT network in Serbia, based on LoRa technology at the end of the month.

Photo by P.Mitić

* What brings this network?

– This will be the first IoT network in Serbia, but also in the region. "Internet of Things" is a network that connects all types of sensors with separate base stations and further to the large and claud platform, allowing you to manage things remotely. Thus, in healthcare, an office doctor can remotely read the vital functions of his patient through a bracelet with a sensor that he manipulates at home … It is also an interesting application in agriculture, transport, logistics …

READ: Telekom Serbia won the Virtus Partnership Award with the National Children's Line

* How did Telekom Serbia and its subsidiaries work?

– In 2017, Telekom Srbija saw its revenues decrease one percent. For years, our fixed business figure has declined, which is a trend all over the world. The second reason is that part of the income attributed to "Telekom Srbije" originates from KiM, which since last year comes from the subsidiary "MTS Kosovska Mitrovica", which also worked positively. But in other segments, we recorded growth: in mobile telephony, about 1%, in the Internet segment, about 5%, multimedia, 14%. In the ICT services segment, we also recorded significant growth. The indicators for the first six months of this year are positive – revenue growth is close to 1% compared to the same period of 2017. The increase in operating profit and net profit of 10% indicates that we are on the right track. The company's daughter, and there are 15, almost all have shown enviable results.

BANK

MTS Bank is a small bank on the market. We have consolidated it, it has the least loan problems compared to capital, profitable business, has double-digit revenue growth this year. We are a conservative bank, but we are not conservative. Starting in September, we are launching a new wave of promotion of new services and services that will change the boundaries not only of the mobile, but also of the bank in general. We plan to finish this year in the most, with little profit – says Ćulibrk

ENTERPRISES

– The companies of Telekom Srbija are getting good results this year. Arena Sport posted double digit growth in its business figure for the first six months of the year. Also, MTS Bank. "Mtel Podgorica" ​​has recorded significant revenue growth and it is a step to become an absolute leader in the market. After two or three years, we managed to stabilize and return to a positive trend at Mtel Banja Luka with revenue growth this year. Director of Telekom Srbija says group is on the right track

Photo of P.Mitić

MODEL MODEL

– Telecommunications companies started to change their business model five or six years ago there were vendors providing services via Viber and other applications. Before that, most of the operator's income came from fee-based traffic. As a result, operators had to adjust, as some companies started to record a 10% drop in revenue per year. Today, telecommunications should merge all types of services, not only voice services, but also data and Internet transmissions, broadcast television content, only those that succeed in unifying and providing all types of services. fbAsyncInit = function ()
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