20.03.2008, 20:08
Lattelecom Priority Continues Broadband Internet Development
OREANDA-NEWS. On 20 March 2008 was announced, that the Lattelecom Group defined its goals for 2008, and the priority will continue to be the development of broadband Internet services. By the end of the year, Lattelecom plans to increase the number of broadband Internet connections by approximately 40%. This is the fourth year in a row that this is Lattelecom’s chief priority.
“Increasing the number of permanent Internet connections is a fundamental aspect of Lattelecom’s development, given that this is the area in which revenue is increasing most rapidly. It is also a platform on the basis of which we will be able to offer new services in the future – IP telephony, a wider range of television services and other innovative solutions,” says the chairman of the Lattelecom Council, Gundars Strautmanis.
Last year Lattelecom substantially exceeded its forecast number of broadband Internet connections – at the end of 2007, there were 151,000 such connections. The largest number of connections was found in Rоga, Jыrmala and the Rоga District. Elsewhere in Latvia, Lattelecom broadband Internet services are used the most in the Jelgava, Daugavpils and Liepвja districts.
On Wednesday, March 19, the Lattelecom Council approved the group’s 2007 financial results, which showed profits for the group of LVL 38.1 million and total revenue of LVL 153.5 million.
The Lattelecom Group’s 2007 revenue was 5% or LVL 7 million more than in the previous year. The sum was the largest since the establishment of SIA Lattelecom in 1994. The previous highest revenue was in 2002 – LVL 147.4 million. During the subsequent two years there was a decline in revenue as a result of liberalisation in the fixed telecommunications service sector, but revenue began to increase again in 2005.
The 2007 profits for the group – LVL 38.1 million – were 2.4% or LVL 900,000 less than in the previous year.
“The 2007 results show that Lattelecom’s development strategy has been correct. For the third year in a row, the group has managed to increase revenue and to uphold profit indicators despite the surge in inflation in Latvia. Of key importance here is that last year we saw an increase not only in permanent Internet connections, but also in the number of fixed telephone lines – something that had not been the case since 2000,” says Strautmanis.
The more rapid increase in revenue in 2007 was based on data transmission and Internet services, where revenue last year rose by LVL 6.1 million, or 22%. Another positive area was the provision of information technology and network installation services, with a rise in revenue of LVL 3 million, or 17%. Directory assistance and outsourced services to other clients also contributed to the higher revenue level, with revenue in these sectors rising by 22%.
“For Lattelecom, as other companies, these indicators were substantially adjusted by inflation. Labour costs, utility costs and energy resource costs all increased, and that particularly has to do with the group’s profits. We also earned less than had been planned from IT services, and that was because there were delays in major projects in the government sector. It is also true that European Union financing for the IT sector in Latvia is being spent more slowly than had been anticipated,” says the acting board chairman of Lattelecom, Juris Gulbis.
As wireless technologies and services have developed further, Lattelecom had more than 450 Wi-Fi Internet access points at the end of 2007 in Rоga and Latvia’s largest cities. Lattelecom clients spent around 430,000 hours on Wi-Fi wireless Internet connections during the course of the year, which was nearly 80% more than in 2006. This is both thanks to the fact that portable computers are becoming more popular and to the fact that Lattelecom has expanded Wi-Fi availability. Lattelecom has also installed the first WiMAX wireless Internet facilities in and around Rоga.
Corporate clients were important for the concern in 2007, particularly in the state and local government sector. Lattelecom concluded several major agreements toward the end of 2007 on projects that are being pursued in 2008. The most important among these are a NATO-related maritime surveillance system project for the Ministry of Defense, provision of the Internet access infrastructure for Latvian libraries, installation of an IP data transmission network at Latvia’s diplomatic and consular institutions and then managing that network, implementation of the mySAP business administration system for the Lithuanian rail company Lietuvos geleюinkeliai, and involvement in Latvia’s passport system in terms of creating an IT system to handle data in the production of biometric passports.
The Lattelecom Group had capital investments in 2007 of LVL 29.2 million. The largest share of this financing went toward the modernisation of the electronic communications network and to an expansion of the access and data network – this largely being related to the increased number of new broadband Internet clients. The highest amount of capital investment was LVL 71.6 million in 1998. Since the launch of the modernisation program in 1994, Lattelecom has made total capital investments of LVL 563.9 million (data from end of 2007).
“The development of Lattelecom in 2008 will be related to the development of Internet services, particularly paying strategic attention to those areas of Latvia in which there is lower population density. We want to improve Internet access opportunities in the country’s more peripheral areas, and one of our priorities in pursuit of this will be to invest money in our network infrastructure and the quality of that infrastructure,” says Gulbis.
In 2008, Lattelecom plans to increase the capacity and coverage of its ADSL Internet network, as well as to expand the WiMAX wireless Internet network in the Rоga District and around Latvia’s larger cities. In terms of new objects, the main focus will be on the installation of optic cable networks to specific objects or, in many cases, to the network connection itself.
There are six companies in the Lattelecom Group – Lattelecom, Lattelecom BPO, Citrus Solutions, Lattelecom Technology and its subsidiary, the Baltic Computer Academy, as well as LSS. Lattelecom was established as a joint venture in 1994. 51% of capital in the company belongs to the Republic of Latvia. The other 49% belong to Tilts Communications, which is owned by the Sonera Corporation subsidiary Sonera Holdings B.V. TeliaSonera AB owns 99.4% of shares in Sonera Corporations.
“Increasing the number of permanent Internet connections is a fundamental aspect of Lattelecom’s development, given that this is the area in which revenue is increasing most rapidly. It is also a platform on the basis of which we will be able to offer new services in the future – IP telephony, a wider range of television services and other innovative solutions,” says the chairman of the Lattelecom Council, Gundars Strautmanis.
Last year Lattelecom substantially exceeded its forecast number of broadband Internet connections – at the end of 2007, there were 151,000 such connections. The largest number of connections was found in Rоga, Jыrmala and the Rоga District. Elsewhere in Latvia, Lattelecom broadband Internet services are used the most in the Jelgava, Daugavpils and Liepвja districts.
On Wednesday, March 19, the Lattelecom Council approved the group’s 2007 financial results, which showed profits for the group of LVL 38.1 million and total revenue of LVL 153.5 million.
The Lattelecom Group’s 2007 revenue was 5% or LVL 7 million more than in the previous year. The sum was the largest since the establishment of SIA Lattelecom in 1994. The previous highest revenue was in 2002 – LVL 147.4 million. During the subsequent two years there was a decline in revenue as a result of liberalisation in the fixed telecommunications service sector, but revenue began to increase again in 2005.
The 2007 profits for the group – LVL 38.1 million – were 2.4% or LVL 900,000 less than in the previous year.
“The 2007 results show that Lattelecom’s development strategy has been correct. For the third year in a row, the group has managed to increase revenue and to uphold profit indicators despite the surge in inflation in Latvia. Of key importance here is that last year we saw an increase not only in permanent Internet connections, but also in the number of fixed telephone lines – something that had not been the case since 2000,” says Strautmanis.
The more rapid increase in revenue in 2007 was based on data transmission and Internet services, where revenue last year rose by LVL 6.1 million, or 22%. Another positive area was the provision of information technology and network installation services, with a rise in revenue of LVL 3 million, or 17%. Directory assistance and outsourced services to other clients also contributed to the higher revenue level, with revenue in these sectors rising by 22%.
“For Lattelecom, as other companies, these indicators were substantially adjusted by inflation. Labour costs, utility costs and energy resource costs all increased, and that particularly has to do with the group’s profits. We also earned less than had been planned from IT services, and that was because there were delays in major projects in the government sector. It is also true that European Union financing for the IT sector in Latvia is being spent more slowly than had been anticipated,” says the acting board chairman of Lattelecom, Juris Gulbis.
As wireless technologies and services have developed further, Lattelecom had more than 450 Wi-Fi Internet access points at the end of 2007 in Rоga and Latvia’s largest cities. Lattelecom clients spent around 430,000 hours on Wi-Fi wireless Internet connections during the course of the year, which was nearly 80% more than in 2006. This is both thanks to the fact that portable computers are becoming more popular and to the fact that Lattelecom has expanded Wi-Fi availability. Lattelecom has also installed the first WiMAX wireless Internet facilities in and around Rоga.
Corporate clients were important for the concern in 2007, particularly in the state and local government sector. Lattelecom concluded several major agreements toward the end of 2007 on projects that are being pursued in 2008. The most important among these are a NATO-related maritime surveillance system project for the Ministry of Defense, provision of the Internet access infrastructure for Latvian libraries, installation of an IP data transmission network at Latvia’s diplomatic and consular institutions and then managing that network, implementation of the mySAP business administration system for the Lithuanian rail company Lietuvos geleюinkeliai, and involvement in Latvia’s passport system in terms of creating an IT system to handle data in the production of biometric passports.
The Lattelecom Group had capital investments in 2007 of LVL 29.2 million. The largest share of this financing went toward the modernisation of the electronic communications network and to an expansion of the access and data network – this largely being related to the increased number of new broadband Internet clients. The highest amount of capital investment was LVL 71.6 million in 1998. Since the launch of the modernisation program in 1994, Lattelecom has made total capital investments of LVL 563.9 million (data from end of 2007).
“The development of Lattelecom in 2008 will be related to the development of Internet services, particularly paying strategic attention to those areas of Latvia in which there is lower population density. We want to improve Internet access opportunities in the country’s more peripheral areas, and one of our priorities in pursuit of this will be to invest money in our network infrastructure and the quality of that infrastructure,” says Gulbis.
In 2008, Lattelecom plans to increase the capacity and coverage of its ADSL Internet network, as well as to expand the WiMAX wireless Internet network in the Rоga District and around Latvia’s larger cities. In terms of new objects, the main focus will be on the installation of optic cable networks to specific objects or, in many cases, to the network connection itself.
There are six companies in the Lattelecom Group – Lattelecom, Lattelecom BPO, Citrus Solutions, Lattelecom Technology and its subsidiary, the Baltic Computer Academy, as well as LSS. Lattelecom was established as a joint venture in 1994. 51% of capital in the company belongs to the Republic of Latvia. The other 49% belong to Tilts Communications, which is owned by the Sonera Corporation subsidiary Sonera Holdings B.V. TeliaSonera AB owns 99.4% of shares in Sonera Corporations.
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