‘The year of the fibre’: this is how Zeinal Bava designated the year of 2009. How and when will this investment take place? The question was anticipated by PT’s CEO during the dinner-debate held by the Portuguese Association for Communications Development (APDC). But for the time being, the answer is: “we will have to wait” until the conditions of implementation are defined.
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"We want to be the most
ambitious operator in terms
of fibre", said Zeinal Bava |
The Chief Executive reminded Europe’s delay in relation to Ásia and the USA and stressed that there is not a single operator in Europe with an ambitious project in terms of New Generation Networks. And it is precisely in this aspect that PT stands out from its peers: “We want to be the most ambitious operator in terms of fibre”. Convinced of PT’s capacity to define a suitable business model and to carry out the investment, Zeinal Bava stressed the goal of affording a unique television experience, reaching those areas of the country where ADSL is not yet available.
This is an investment with positive results for the country too, because it reinforces the concept of sustainability as this is an issue that is not limited to economic aspects, having a direct impact in environmental terms. On the other hand, it is a project with a structuring impact on the future, namely in terms of education and health.
Therefore, Zeinal Bava made a request: “Let us work”. According to the Chief Executive, Anacom has done “an excellent job”, but asks the Portuguese regulator to let the operators battle for the market and customers make their choice. In accordance with Zeinal Bava, PT lives well with competition, but stresses: “Companies cannot be disadvantaged for wanting to grow”.
The networks of the future were the third item of a presentation that started by highlighting the goals already reached, the future goals of Portugal Telecom, and it also included the future vision of the company.
A different life
At home, at the office, anywhere: people’s way of life is going to change and Portugal Telecom is prepared to lead this change through initiatives at several levels.
Therefore, PT has defined as strategic its intervention in terms of development of new means of communication (videocall, teleconference), innovation in content access (HD and 3D content, interactive games and HD videos), domotics novelties (remote control of home appliances and management of energy consumption), home security and automation among others.
These are a few of the development areas predicted within PT, seeking to provide solutions for customers each time more demanding in terms of service.
Multinational operator with a mandate to grow
PT has 70 million customers today, but the goal for the next three-year period is quite ambitious: “We want to reach 100 million customers”, said Zeinal Bava. If today 50% of the income results from international businesses, PT predicts that this figure will grow to 2/3 of the total income. Portugal Telecom wants to lead every business in Portugal. Therefore, it is already organised in terms of segments, a measure conducive to the leadership. Showing a better performance in terms of shareholder return and operational financial results is also one of the goals. All these goals are set alongside a positioning that privileges sustainability because the company wants to be a reference in this domain.
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In spite of the aggressive bet on optical fibre, the customer is always
the focus of Portugal Telecom, a priority highlighted
by the Chief Executive |
PT’s total customer base grew by 28% as the income increased by 10%, an uncommon situation for companies that did not make any acquisition. There are a lot of challenges in Portugal, and therefore the company has to keep reinventing its future. For that reason, it has defined Meo, converged fixed-mobile services, IT/IS solutions and mobile broadband as levers for growth. Internationally, Brazil and Africa remain priority markets.
The television service enabled the company to transform its residential business, with Meo registering unparalleled results at different levels and allowing PT to reach the highest European penetration rate, in the year of launch of the service. At the same time, “we are working in order to surprise the market”, added Zeinal Bava about the Digital Terrestrial Television service. In spite of the delay relative to other European countries, the Chief Executive guaranteed once again that Portugal would anticipate the switch-off by one year.
The good results are not exclusive of the wireline business. Investing on mobile broadband and on converged offers are fundamental strategies mentioned by the CEO who underlined the fact that TMN saw an increase in its billing income. These good results also hold true internationally, notably in the case of Vivo that increased its GSM and 3G customer base and saw EBTTDA consolidated.
