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Telecom
May 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
line services, IPTV and smart technologies,” said Director of T-Mobile Czech Republic Juraj Bona, adding the company sees the success of Magenta 1 after one year on the market as a step in the right direction.
“It is a unique solution which, thanks to its flexibility, suits truly every household. Other than financial savings and a number of benefits, what customers appreciate the most is that we do not dictate anything to them. The choice of services is up to them,” Bona said.
In 1Q19, the operator continued to expand its LTE
network, covering 99.11% of the population of the Czech Republic with its fastest mobile internet technology at the end of March. Combined coverage with the 3G and LTE networks reached 99.23% of the population.
In February, the operator announced that it increased its EBITDA operating profit by 5.6% to CZK11.44bn (€444.53) in 2018. Its revenues rose by 0.7% to CZK27.23bn (€1.06).
Together with O2, Vodafone and since April 2019 Nordic Telecom, T-Mobile will participate in the auction for 5G frequencies network in 2H19.
Turkish mobile operator Turkcell’s profit soars 145% y/y in Q1 boosted by unit sale
The net income of Turkcell, Turkey’s largest mobile operator, soared 144.5% y/y in the first quarter of 2019, boosted by additional revenue generated from the sale of Fintur shares.
Turkcell reported that its profit increased to Turkish lira (TRY) 1.11bn in Q1 this year from TRY501mn a year ago. Its revenues were up 19% y/y to TRY5.7bn.
In the quarter, the company completed the transfer of its stake in Fintur to Sonera. The final transaction value was €353mn with profit generation of TRY772.4mn.
Ebitda rose by 13% to stand at TRY2.3bn.
Data and digital services revenues rose by 18% y/y to TRY3.2bn.
The company’s consolidated debt increased
to TRY22.9bn as of end-March from TRY20.2bn a year earlier.
The number of Turkcell’s mobile subscribers declined 1.9% y/y to 36.6mn in the first quarter. The mobile churn rate was 1.9% versus 1.4% in Q1 2018.
“Demand for mobile data has remained strong this quarter with the contribution of our digital services. Monthly average data consumption of customers on our 4.5G network has increased 28% yearly to 7.4GB,” said CEO Murat Erkan.
The company has revised its guidance for 2019.
“Accordingly, we now target revenue growth
of 17%-19% up from 16%-18% and an Ebitda margin of 38%-40% compared to 37%-40% previously. We maintain our target operational capex over sales ratio of 16%-18%,” Turkcell said in a statement.