Page 19 - bne_Tech_09_2019

Telecom
September 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 19
North Macedonia's Makedonski Telekom’s net profit up 8% y/y in 1H19
North Macedonia's largest telecoms company Makedonski Telekom said on August 8 its unconsolidated net profit rose by 8% y/y to MKD880.8mn (€14.3mn) in the first half of 2019.
Makedonski Telekom is part of Deutsche Telekom, through Hungary’s Magyar Telekom, which owns 51% of the company. The Macedonian government holds a 34.8% stake.
Sales revenues grew by 3% y/y to MKD5.1bn, while operating costs were flat y/y at MKD4.2bn in the first six months of the year, the company said in a bourse filing.
Makedonski Telekom kept the leading position in the fixed telephony market with a 55.6% market share, servicing 210,900 clients in the first half.
Revenues from fixed voice services declined by 5% y/y, but the number of subscribers in this segment rose by an annual 0.7%.
In the mobile telephony segment, Makedonski Telekom had a market share of 49.4% in the first half of 2019 with 1.198mn subscribers.
Revenues from mobile voice services declined 4.2% y/y, as a result of lower revenues from pre- paid customers.
The company’s main rival in the mobile segment is one.Vip, part of Telekom Austria group.
The total number of broadband accesses at the end of the first six months increased by 3.2% to 197,000, while the broadband market share of Makedonski Telekom was 43.7%.
The number of households covered by optical ac- cess has increased by 9.7% at the end of June.
Makedonski Telekom had a market share of 31.3% of the TV market in the country. IPTV subscribers grew by 8.3% y/y to 131,900 clients, as the service was well accepted by customers.
Romania, US sign memorandum on 5G technologies
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis announced on August 20, after meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the governments of Romania and the US on 5G technology was signed in Washington, Economica.net informed.
"On the occasion of the visit, a memorandum
of understanding was signed between the two governments regarding 5G technology, given the importance of the security of the next generation of wireless communications networks in order to ensure prosperity, but also national security,”
Iohannis said in a statement held at the Embassy of Romania in the US.
Romania’s telecom market regulator ANCOM announced in early June that it signed the procedures for auctioning the frequency bands dedicated to products based on 5G technologies and it expected to wrap up the auction by the end of October.
However, ANCOM head Mihai Grindeanu said he was not aware of the memorandum announced by Presi- dent Iohannis. He said that he expected clarifica- tions from the government or the Security Council.