A1 Telekom Austria Group sees impacts of political uncertainty in Belarus on business
<p> MINSK, Oct 21 - PrimePress. A1 Telekom Austria Group released on October 20 the financial statement on the performance in the third quarter of 2020, which contains data on its subsidiary in Belarus–A1, Belarusian provider of telecom, ICT and content services–including the impacts of political uncertainty in Belarus on business. </p> <p> </p> <p> The company’s revenues in euros decreased as a result of the changed foreign exchange rates, while large sales of terminal hardware resulted in an increase in revenues in rubles. EBITDA in rubles increased by 11.2% year on year. At the same time, while EBITDA in euros was down 13.6%. </p> <p> </p> <p> Like all other Internet providers in Belarus, A1 faced difficulties in providing services to its customers on August 9-12. Tt was A1 that was the first to publicly report the unavailability of services on the side of higher operators, which have a monopoly on access to the external communication channel. In August and September, all telecom operators reduced the bandwidth of the mobile Internet in Minsk at the request of the authorized state bodies. A1 complied with the request, openly and publicly indicating that it was the initiative of the Belarusian authorities in each particular case. </p> <p> </p> <p> A1 offered compensation for the inconveniences associated with Internet access restrictions in proportion to the amount of the subscription fee, and provided subscribers free text message and voice services and Internet traffic packages. Nevertheless, the company registered a large number of customer complaints addressed to all telecom operators, says A1 Telekom Austria Group. </p> <p> </p> <p> As previously reported, the operators reported a reduction in the bandwidth of the data transmission in Minsk by order of government agencies on August 26, 23 and 31, September 6, 13, 20 and 27, and October 4 and 11, 2020. The operators offered their subscribers bonuses in compensation for the shutdowns. </p> <p> </p> <p> In September, the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) released a statement, in which it attributed the Internet blockages in Belarus to the monopoly on the external channel, and cited A1 Telekom Austria Group as saying that the liberalization of approaches to the use of the external communication channel by operators was one of the priority points for Belarus’ accession to the World Trade Organization. </p> <p> </p> <p> A1 (velcom until August 2019) was established in 1998.The company began commercial operations on April 16, 1999. At present, A1 Telekom Austria Group owns 100% of the company. The operator began commercial operation of the 3G network (HSPA and HSPA+) in March 2010, and has been providing 4G services since March 2019. The number of subscribers was reported at 4.882 million in the third quarter of 2020. End </p>
2020-10-22
Primepress
A1 Telekom Austria Group sees impacts of political uncertainty in Belarus on business
MINSK, Oct 21 - PrimePress. A1 Telekom Austria Group released on October 20 the financial statement on the performance in the third quarter of 2020, which contains data on its subsidiary in Belarus–A1, Belarusian provider of telecom, ICT and content services–including the impacts of political uncertainty in Belarus on business.
The company’s revenues in euros decreased as a result of the changed foreign exchange rates, while large sales of terminal hardware resulted in an increase in revenues in rubles. EBITDA in rubles increased by 11.2% year on year. At the same time, while EBITDA in euros was down 13.6%.
Like all other Internet providers in Belarus, A1 faced difficulties in providing services to its customers on August 9-12. Tt was A1 that was the first to publicly report the unavailability of services on the side of higher operators, which have a monopoly on access to the external communication channel. In August and September, all telecom operators reduced the bandwidth of the mobile Internet in Minsk at the request of the authorized state bodies. A1 complied with the request, openly and publicly indicating that it was the initiative of the Belarusian authorities in each particular case.
A1 offered compensation for the inconveniences associated with Internet access restrictions in proportion to the amount of the subscription fee, and provided subscribers free text message and voice services and Internet traffic packages. Nevertheless, the company registered a large number of customer complaints addressed to all telecom operators, says A1 Telekom Austria Group.
As previously reported, the operators reported a reduction in the bandwidth of the data transmission in Minsk by order of government agencies on August 26, 23 and 31, September 6, 13, 20 and 27, and October 4 and 11, 2020. The operators offered their subscribers bonuses in compensation for the shutdowns.
In September, the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association (ETNO) released a statement, in which it attributed the Internet blockages in Belarus to the monopoly on the external channel, and cited A1 Telekom Austria Group as saying that the liberalization of approaches to the use of the external communication channel by operators was one of the priority points for Belarus’ accession to the World Trade Organization.
A1 (velcom until August 2019) was established in 1998.The company began commercial operations on April 16, 1999. At present, A1 Telekom Austria Group owns 100% of the company. The operator began commercial operation of the 3G network (HSPA and HSPA+) in March 2010, and has been providing 4G services since March 2019. The number of subscribers was reported at 4.882 million in the third quarter of 2020. End