Page 20 - bne_Tech_03_2020

Telecom
March 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 20
available, as in the case of Ebitda).
The group’s revenues increased by 14% to €1.1bn in 2019, according to the unaudited preliminary financial report published by the company.
The debt ratios improved as a result of higher Ebitda under the new accounting standards, despite the rise in the group’s net and adjusted debt.
Thus, the total debt increased to €991mn at the end of 2019, up 7.7% from the end of 2018, while the net debt rose by 8.2% to €980mn.
Russia could postpone 5G rollout from 2022 to 2024
Russia could postpone the rollout of the 5G networks from 2022 to 2024 due difficulties related to frequency allocations and the imperative to use domestically produced equipment, Reuters reported citing the strategic development director of state telecom major Rostelecom Alesya Mamchur.
As analysed by bne IntelliNews, the introduction of the 5G network has been impeded by a lack of clear policy, decisions on framework frequency allocation, rollout strategy and the lack of cooperation within and with the private sector.
The Digital Economy National Project planned to launch 5G in one pilot Russian city by 2021 and in ten cities by 2022.
But the Kremlin chose unpopular frequencies for 5G rollout to drive home-made infrastructure development and could enforce the use of domestically produced servers only.
“The deadlines are being pushed... The plans are more ambitious. The goal for covering 10 cities
And yet, the net debt to Ebitda decreased from 2.8 at the end of 2018 to 2.6 one year later.
Operationally, the total number of revenue generating units (RGU) increased by 8%, at the end of last year, reaching 16.1mn compared to 14.9mn at the end of 2018. This is the highest level of the total number of services provided by the company in its history.
Digi is controlled by local businessman Zoltan Teszari, and operates in Romania, Hungary, Spain and Italy.
with over 1mn inhabitants is now closer to 2024,” Mamchur said at the Fitch Ratings conference, attributing it mostly to the need to use the domestic equipment and frequency allocation.
Previously in January Russia’s Ministry of Communication reportedly did not support the idea of 5G rollout by a joint venture of telecom operators, sticking to the idea of a single nationwide operator instead.
The government previously proposed to set out
a single state infrastructure operator for 5G rollout that would provide carpet 5G coverage and outsource it to the private operators. This was criticised by the anti-monopoly watchdog and market participants.
To meet the challenges of the costly 5G roll-out, at the end of 2019 Russia's largest telecom carriers Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Veon, Megafon and state- controlled Rostelecom agreed to combine their efforts in developing and optimising the usage of 5G network. However, the terms of co-operation in such a joint venture have remained largely unclear.