Bulgaria
In July 2005 the Telekom Austria Group acquired a 100% stake in Mobiltel, the leading Bulgarian provider of mobile communications services, and successfully completed the integration process in 2006.
In Bulgaria Mobiltel is the leading mobile communications operator with a market share of 50%. The company was able to take excellent advantage of market dynamics in 2008.
At year-end 2007 the mobile penetration rate rose to 142.1% as a consequence of several Sim cards per customer, compared to 132.8% in the previous year. In 2008 Mobiltel increased its subscriber base by 5.8% to 5.4 million customers. The contract customer share rose from 42.1% to 51.4%.
Numerous innovative services and products such as M-Tel Home or Office-Box, which enable fixed-to-mobile substitution, were successfully introduced.
A marked increase in voice minutes compensated for the decline in tariffs due to competition and lower international roaming revenues following the EU regulation. Average monthly revenues per customer thus remained virtually stable. Mobiltel reported revenue growth of 3.8% to EUR 667.4 million.