OTE: Demand for fast speeds and data increases – Investments in FTTH and 5G are progressing

The intention of the group to proceed at a steady pace the planned investments for the development of fixed and mobile networks with emphasis on fiber optic connections and 5G was confirmed by the president and CEO of OTE, Michalis Tsamaz, while informing the analysts about the results c quarter.

As stated by Mr. Tsamaz and the financial director of the group Babis Mazarakis, the demand for data on mobile and for higher speeds in fixed telephony is steadily increasing, having a positive effect on the revenues from services and the profitability of OTE. This can be seen from the connections chosen by OTE customers, 23% of fiber optic subscribers have a connection with a download speed of at least 100 Mbps from 12% a year ago.

According to the CEO of OTE, the focus is on the development of fiber optic networks to the home (Fiber To The Home-FTTH). At the end of September, the FTTH network covered more than 479,000 households and businesses, while at the end of the year it will exceed 560,000 and the goal is to exceed 1 million by the end of 2022.

For mobile, OTE management stated that it is very close to the goal it has set for 5G population coverage in 60% of the country by the end of the year, as in Athens and Thessaloniki it has already reached 97% and 90% respectively. Here, too, there is a great increase in the demand for internet access. The average data usage per subscriber recorded an increase of 85% compared to the previous quarter, as it stood at 8.5 GB per month from 4.8 GB.

The unlimited data packages given with special offers in the summer also helped to increase the use of data, which, as Mr. Mazarakis said, “were very successful and show us the path we must follow in a period when the competition is intensifying” .

In the pay-TV sector, the total number of Cosmote TV subscribers reached 600 thousand, recording an increase of 6.6% compared to a year ago. According to the management of the group, the addition of sports content such as the promotion of the home games of the eight of the 14 teams of the Superleague as well as the transmission of the Italian championship played an important role in this.

Tsamaz: Positive developments for the group

The CEO of OTE stressed that 2021 will mark a substantial recovery of revenue and profitability after the outbreak of the pandemic and said he is optimistic for the coming years, as he said there are many positive signs, such as the reduction of the mobile special charge to 10% from in 2022 but also the large PPP Ultra-Fast Broadband for the development of fiber optic networks, where OTE is one of the two participants (the Grid Telecom-Terna Energy consortium also participates in the project).

Answering a question about the competition and the new landscape that is expected to be formed with the Nova-Wind merger, he has not yet seen any change in the market, as the merger is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.

Regarding the competition that OTE may face in the development of optical networks by new players who have expressed interest in entering the specific market for wholesale services such as PPC, Mr. Tsamaz noted that “we have a stable development plan. We are far ahead of anyone “A potential competitor to FTTH. Anyone who invests in FTTH is welcome. It is not a threat to us, this is how the market grows.”

The design of the OTE group also includes the IT and communications (ICT) projects that are expected to be announced with resources from the Recovery Fund and the new NSRF. “We are waiting for the tenders for various public works, which are expected to start in the middle of 2022. We are in a very good position with an excellent project history. So we will be the main contenders and we expect that we will have good results,” said Mr. Tsamaz.

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