Mobile Communications
The mobile communications segment comprises all activities in the mobile communications field.
The Telekom Austria Group provides switched voice telephony in the mobile communications segment as well as VAS such as voicemail, information- and entertainment services on the mobile portal Vodafone live!, m-commerce, mobile Internet access, mobile office solutions, telematics (a combination of location-based services, global-positioning system (GPS) localization and remote control), and the use of up to three mobile phones under the same number, SMS and multimedia messaging services (MMS and video telephony) for private and business customers.The mobile communication segment is represented by mobilkom austria in Austria, Mobiltel in Bulgaria, Vipnet in Croatia, Si.mobil in Slovenia, mobilkom liechtenstein, Velcom in Belarus, Vip mobile in Serbia and Vip operator in Macedonia.
Developments 2007
- Customer base increases by 50.9% to 15.4 million due to contribution of Velcom & start-ups in den Republic of Serbia & in the Republic of Macedonia
- Excluding Velcom customer base increases by 21% to 12.4 million, contract customer base considerably expanded in all countries
- Strong international performance and contribution of the newly consolidated Velcom lead to revenue growth of 4.6 %
- International companies contribute 46% of the segment revenues
- EBITDA growth of international companies and contribution of Velcom compensate for start-up costs
Revenues in the Mobile Communication segment rose by 4.6% to EUR 3,035.1 million during 2007. This growth was driven by international operations and the consolidation of Velcom which more than offset lower roaming revenues due to the introduction of EU roaming regulation and lower domestic revenues. On a comp-arable basis, excluding Velcom, revenues in the Mobile Communication segment increased by 2.4% to EUR 2,971.1 million.
EBITDA remained stable at EUR 1,177.6 million. Growth of established international operations and the contribution of Velcom compensated a for lower contribution from the domestic business impacted by roaming and the reduction of mobile termination rates as well as the cost associated to the launch of operations in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic Macedonia. Excluding Velcom, EBITDA in the Mobile Communication segment declined by 2.6% to EUR 1,146.7 million.
Operating income declined by 6.1% to EUR 637.5 million as a result of higher depreciation and amortization charges due to the consolidation of Velcom and the new operations in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia. Operating income excluding Velcom declined by 7.9% to EUR 625.0 million
