Page 17 - bne_Tech_05_2020

Telecom
May 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 17
Makedonski Telekom’s net profit down 22% y/y in 1Q20
North Macedonia's largest telecoms company Makedonski Telekom said on May 14 its unconsolidated net profit plunged by 22% y/y to MKD313.2mn (€5.1mn) in the first quarter of 2020.
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 went up by 4% y/y to MKD2.6bn, while operating costs increased 8% y/y at MKD2.25bn in the first three months, the company said in a bourse filing.
Makedonski Telekom kept the leading position in the fixed telephony market with a 62% market share, servicing 216,200 clients in the period under review.
Revenues from fixed voice services dropped by 3.6% y/y, but the number of subscribers in this segment grew by an annual 1.9%.
In the mobile telephony segment, Makedonski
Telekom had a market share of 47.4% in the first quarter with 1.196mn subscribers.
Revenues from mobile voice services declined 2.3% y/y, mainly 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 March increased by 4% to 205,500, while the broadband market share of Makedonski Telekom was 48.1%.
The number of households covered by optical access has increased to 35.7% at the end of March to over 200,000.
Makedonski Telekom had a market share of 32.6% of the TV market in the country. IPTV subscribers went up by 5.5% y/y to 137,400 clients, as the service was well accepted by customers.
MTN-Irancell 'ready to attract expatriate investors'
The chief executive of MTN-Irancell – the second- largest mobile telecoms business in Iran – told IRIB on April 20 that the company is actively seeking investment from expatriate Iranians.
MTN-Irancell has more than 50mn active users and has led the way in 4G mobile broadband in Iran since 2016. The network has 86%-mobile coverage of Iran, taking in 1,606 cities and towns.
The group, backed by South Africa’s multinational MTN telco group, has also invested heavily in
the applications market, with its biggest apps investment to date taking the form of a joint project with Rocket Internet that has created the Snapp! ride-hailing app.
The CEO, Bijan Abbasi Arand, said that MTN- Irancell was looking at opportunities to bring in