TPSA will not alter revenue forecast (Poland)
Poland’s dominant telephone operator, Telekomunikacja Polska SA has stated that it won’t need to revise its revenue forecast following a proposal from the telecommunications regulator to cut mobile termination rates.
Polish telecommunications regulator UKE proposed that the country’s three largest mobile operators cut their MTRs by 42% and has given them a month to respond.
UKE proposed that the regulated mobile termination rates be cut to $0.0339 a minute from US$0.05 a minute.
According to the company, while making their estimates regarding 2011 revenue, they took into account MTR being cut to between US$0.02 to US$0.05.
According to TPSA, the regulator’s proposal is a motivator for all operators to complete the negotiations as soon as possible.
GN Store Nord extends TPSA proceedings (Poland)
Danish group GN Store Nord has extended proceedings against Polish telecoms group TPSA to Britain in its dispute about traffic volumes over a fibre-optic network its DPTG unit built in Poland.
According to GN, DPTG had initiated enforcement proceedings against the Polish telecoms group in Britain, and had received an order of enforcement from the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division.
TPSA, which has 14 days to appeal the interim order, has contracts with UK telecoms operators and pays them for charges such as international roaming; under the order, TPSA could be forced to channel that money to GN instead.
Last week, GN filed a fresh US$430 million claim against TPSA, sending TPSA shares to their lowest level in six months.
TPSA, controlled by France Telecom, rejected the demand last week as groundless, but DM IDM SA analyst Jakub Viscardian has said there is a risk the company could be forced to raise provisions in the first quarter. An earlier US$524.86 million claim by GN’s DPTG unit is outstanding.
DPTG, 75 percent owned by GN, filed last week’s claim with the arbitration tribunal in Vienna, where it had lodged the first one.
TPSA, PTC to built mobile infrastructure joint venture (Poland)
Telekomunikacja Polska SA (TPSA) has announced that it has signed a letter of intent with mobile phone rival Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa SA to create a joint venture to manage mobile infrastructure and radio frequencies in Poland.
According to TPSA, the cooperation may allow TPSA to cut costs and capital expenditure by US$231.33 million in 2012-2017.
The companies filed to the Polish antitrust office UOKiK for approval of the joint venture, in which both would hold 50% of shares.
According to TPSA, the companies will continue to own their infrastructure and their current assets wouldn’t be transferred to the joint venture. TPSA and PTC aren’t considering wider cooperation and won’t jointly operate on the retail market.
TPSA is controlled by France Telecom SA. PTC is a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG.
TPSA files lawsuit to overrule DPTG award
Telekomunikacja Polska SA, Poland’s dominant telecommunications operator has revealed that it has filed a lawsuit in Austria, demanding the withdrawal of a verdict that awarded compensation to DPTG.
TPSA, which is controlled by Austria,was ordered in September to pay US$495 million to its business partner DPTG to settle a long-running dispute over traffic volumes carried via a fiber optical network that was installed in Poland in the early 1990s. DPTG is a unit of Danish headset and hearing-aid maker GN Store Nord A/S.
According to TPSA, it raised procedural errors in the arbitration proceedings in its challenge of the verdict.
According to previous statements by GN Store Nord, its DPTG unit has initiated enforcement proceedings against TPSA in the Netherlands and has obtained a prejudgment attachment on TPSA’s shares in its subsidiary TPSA Finance B.V., which effectively freezes the assets of TPSA Finance B.V.
TVN & TPSA inks long-term agreement (Poland)
Poland’s dominant telephone operator Telekomunikacja Polska SA and television broadcaster TVN SA signed a 10-year cooperation agreement to cross-sell their products, which both firms expect to improve earnings.
As per the agreement, Poland’s largest Internet access provider TPSA will sell its broadband access services to subscribers of TVN’s direct-to-home pay-TV platform marketed as ‘n’.
TVN will provide television content for TPSA’s television and video-on-demand products. Both the companies will send a single bill for the services to its own customers, with revenue shared between TPSA and TVN through wholesale arrangements. The companies won’t create a separate company for the products they will offer together.
According to TPSA Chief Executive Maciej Witucki, rollout of the combined offer is expected in the first quarter of 2011.
Both companies alleged that over five years their cooperation will add about US$34.5 million to each company’s Ebitda.
According to Witucki, TPSA expects its TV subscriber base to grow quickly as a result of the deal with TVN, adding the telecoms company aims to have one million television subscribers over the mid-term from half a million now. The companies may prolong their cooperation beyond the 10-year agreement already signed.
According to Chief Executive Markus Tellenbach, TPSA expects to cut operating costs, phasing out its independent television service and replacing it with TVN content and freeing up capacity on two of its satellite transponders. TVN will also generate higher sales as a result of the agreement.
TPSA Ordered France Telecom To Pay US$510 million to DPTG
France Telecom SA’s Polish unit TPSA (Telekomunikacja Polska SA) has been ordered to shell out US$510.44 million to DPTG (Danish Polish Telecommunications Group) by arbitration court in Vienna. France Telecom owns 49.79% in TPSA.
This verdict covers a preliminary period from February 1994 to June 2004, and the second phase of the proceedings will examine the period from July 2004 to January 2009, if the parties negotiate a settlement.
According to France Telecom, TPSA is probing its options regarding taking further legal action to counter this decision. TPSA will announce as soon as possible any further steps to be taken on the issue, in particular regarding the execution of the decision. The company has already made the appropriate provisions relative to these proceedings for which the decision was expected although the calendar remained uncertain.
The possible monetary impact is excluded from France Telecom’s cash flow guidance for 2010, alongside all other outstanding items. France Telecom reaffirmed its commitment to payout a dividend of US$1.80 a share for 3 consequent years.
TPSA net profit declines by 13% (Poland)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 13% fall in the first quarter net profit of Telekomunikacja Polska S.A or TPSA has been announced by the operator which ended at PLN285 million (USD99 million). 10% drop in the sales has also been reported both in line with market expectations going down to PLN3.873 billion.
10.5% drop in sales to PLN2.311 billion has been recorded in fixed line sales while wireless sales dipped 9.1% to PLN1.816 billion. The mid-term the deterioration in sales would slow below last year’s pace of 8.8% before stabilizing in 2011.
According to Chief executive Maciej Witucki, the company has to wait for a decisive change in our earnings until the second half of the year, but the first quarter stands as a good beginning to a breakthrough year of 2010.
TPSA introduces lower Internet access price plan in Poland
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Lower Internet access price plan has been unveiled by Poland’s dominant telecomunications firm Telekomunikacja Polska SA in a bid to retain its market share from intense competition. TPSA is controlled by France Telecom.
According to company’s Chief Executive Maciej Witucki, the firm wants to defend market share and considering competition from cable TV operators and alternative telecoms, it will be a success for a dominant operator to defend its market share now at 40%.
Lower prices might be offered by the operator following a deal struck with the country’s market regulator, in which TPSA promised to build or upgrade 1.2 million Internet access lines. In return the regulator pledged to keep the regulated wholesale prices stable for three years.
TPSA’s landline infrastructure will be bought by alternative operators at regulated wholesale prices. The company also intends to pursue an aggressive pricing and product policy in its Internet offer. Last year, the regulator was pursuing a policy of gradual cuts of TPSA’s wholesale prices.
