T-Mobile gains 309 thousand more contract customers in 2017

At the end of December 2017, T-Mobile Polska had 10,454 million customers. The number of contract customers increased by 124 to reach 6,921 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, and rose by 309 thousand over the entire year. The number of pre-paid customers was 3,533 million, an increase of 33 thousand compared with the previous quarter.

• “For many reasons, 2017 was important for T-Mobile’s further development. It was a year of substantial investment undertaken to expand the sales network and team directly responsible for customer service. This has brought us closer to our customers and made it easier for them to contact us. A combination of the best and the fastest mobile network with more emphasis on customer service, as well as a simplified product portfolio and extended sales network, is paying off in constant increase of customer satisfaction. This is also heavily reflected in the visible trend of customers returning to T Mobile”

  - says Andreas Maierhofer, Chief Executive Officer at T-Mobile Polska S.A. He adds:

• “The best network quality and excellence in customer service remain our top priorities”.

Stabilization of total revenue in 2017

In 2017, the company’s consolidated revenue totaled PLN 6,422 billion, a slight decline of 1.1% compared with 2016. Revenues generated by mobile services reached PLN 5,972 billion and were 1.4% down on the previous year’s results. Its other services, including fixed services and ICT, generated PLN 451 million, 3.4% more than in 2016. In the fourth quarter of 2017, T-Mobile Polska’s total consolidated revenue was PLN 1,657 billion.

• “After several years of decline, in 2017 the total revenue generated by T-Mobile basically stabilized which underlines the strong commercial performance on the market. The operational profitability, measured by EBITDA has been largely impacted by the missing service revenue and the higher costs associated with the introduction of ‘Roam Like At Home’ regulations, the higher staff costs reflecting the expansion of the retail network, as well as the higher marketing investments compared with the past. As for the future, we expect EBITDA margin stabilization as most of the one-time effects on the cost side will evaporate.”

  – says Juraj Andras, Chief Financial Officer at T-Mobile Polska S.A.

Effects of investments and RLAH visible in EBITDA

In 2017, T-Mobile Polska invested substantially in developing customer service and sales team capacities, which were directly translated into an increase in indirect costs year-on-year. Additionally, market trends towards a dominance of unlimited services, both in the subscription and pre-paid segments, as well as strong price pressure, were the major factors affecting EBITDA in 2017. These trends caused a decrease in revenue from telecommunications services and higher costs for interconnection services. The company’s consolidated EBITDA for the 12 months of 2017 is the equivalent of PLN 1,782 billion, down 15.1 per cent on 2016. Without the negative effect of roaming regulations, year-on-year EBITDA would be down by 9.8%. In the fourth quarter of 2017, T Mobile Polska's EBITDA was PLN 450 million, impacted by the effect of roaming regulations to the amount of PLN 44 million. Without this effect, Q4 2017 EBITDA would be down by 17.6% compared with the final quarter of 2016.

Over 10 thousand LTE base stations

T-Mobile Polska is continuously investing in its infrastructure and expanding its network to provide customers with the best experience when using T-Mobile services. In 2017, the number of base stations serving customers in LTE technology went up by 1,827 to 10,217, and the number of stations offering customers 800 MHz LTE went up by 3,621 at the end of the year and reached 5,593. This means that 99.8% of Poland’s population is now within reach of T-Mobile LTE technology. In addition to extending its reach, T Mobile Polska is in the process of introducing new solutions and technologies in order to ensure better network use parameters for customers. By the end of 2017, Carrier Aggregation LTE Technology became available at more than 3,900 base stations, covering 43.3% of Poland’s population.

T-Mobile provides the best and fastest mobile network in Poland

In 2017, T-Mobile came first, for the fourth time in a row, in a survey of the quality of mobile networks in Poland, and was awarded the “Best in test 2017” certificate. T-Mobile outperformed the other operators in both voice quality and data transmission, but also in each area surveyed: major cities, towns and roads. In a survey conducted in November 2017, T-Mobile attained 876 out of a possible 1,000 points, the highest score among all operators in Poland.

T-Mobile Polska also came first in the 2017 SpeedTest.pl ranking. Last year, SpeedTest.pl users measured the speed of their connections more than 30 million times, making it the largest measurement platform in Poland. The results obtained by users for mobile internet speed in telephones found T-Mobile to be the operator providing the fastest mobile internet in Poland in 2017.

T-Mobile closer to customers

T-Mobile has made it a priority to provide the best customer service at all times. It was in this context that T-Mobile increased its retail sales network in 2017, enlarging the team responsible for customer service and simplifying many in-company processes, making both services and contact with the company more customer-friendly. In 2017, T-Mobile Polska opened 103 stores, bringing the total number of shops nationwide to 665. For the expansion of the sales network and strengthening customer service, T-Mobile hired hundreds of new employees in the teams directly responsible for customer service and sales. The company has introduced a new IVR system, making it easier for customers to contact the customer service office and helping to reduce the call waiting time almost fourfold. T-Mobile has also been systematically expanding the “Mój T-Mobile” app, which gained a whole range of new functions in recent months, such as online payment, invoice records dating back 12 months, and a shop location map. Over the last year the number of customers using the app has doubled.

Increase in T-Mobile MNP in 2017

On 8 January 2018, the Office of Electronic Communications released a report giving MNP figures for the fourth quarter of 2017. T-Mobile Polska achieved the best mobile number portability on the market, with an increase of 22,706 numbers. Upward trends for the whole of 2017 resulted in an increase in the company’s number portability of 506, compared with a negative figure in 2016, when MNP was 307,052.

Increase in pre-paid customer base and average pre-paid revenue

In the fourth quarter of 2017, T-Mobile recorded a rise in its pre-paid customer base of 33,000 on the previous quarter. Over the whole of 2017, the company increased its monthly revenue per pre-paid customer to PLN 12, from PLN 10 in 2016.

Simplified product portfolio more attractive to families

The mid-year launch of the “T-Mobile 1 - BEZ LIMITU” offer of unlimited calls and SMS and MMS text messages, and unlimited data transfer, was hugely popular with families. The new Unlimited Home Internet offer, launched in mid-September, has attracted new customers to T-Mobile, particularly those from rural areas and small towns, who account for 70% of all activations.

T-Mobile develops digital solutions for business

Thanks to the acquisition of T-Systems Polska on 1 September 2017, T-Mobile Polska’s services will be enriched with new IT solutions, complementing the network services and company data centres. Last year, the company put into operation the Backup Office in Wroclaw, offering 273 fully-equipped workplaces to entrepreneurs. In Krakow, the operator launched 400 square metres of colocation space for commercial use in a new data centre. As a result, the colocation space offered by T-Mobile to customers increased to a total of 8,000 square metres. In 2017, T-Mobile Polska won several tenders for offering telecommunications services to large corporate clients, including the National Bank of Poland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government Administration Service Center.