In 2022, Crnogorski Telekom recorded financial growth and higher revenues, the highest growth of the postpaid base on the market, growth of over 40% in prepaid and excellent results in the summer season. In addition, the company devoted the previous year to investments in the strategic development of mobile and optical networks, thanks to which Telekom today has the largest 4G and 5G network and the highest flow of internet traffic in the mobile network in Montenegro, as well as 17% more users on optical.
"In 2022, Telekom recorded investments of 15 million euros, of which we invested most in the development of mobile and fixed optical networks and the purchase of spectrum. Thanks to this, at the end of last year, according to official measurements, Telekom has the largest 5G and 4G network in Montenegro - our 5G network is available to about 76% of the population in almost all Montenegrin cities. In addition, Telekom leased the most 5G spectrum at the December auction, in which all three mobile operators participated, which created the conditions for the introduction of gigabit speeds in the mobile network," said the CEO of Crnogorski Telekom, Stjepan Udovicic.
One of the company's priorities in 2022 was the expansion of the optical network in those parts of Montenegro where Telekom did not have an optical infrastructure.
"Investments in fixed infrastructure not only led to an increase in the number of users of fixed services, but we also covered 11.5 thousand new users with optics. This is important because optical users have fewer failures, achieve superior Internet speeds - with certain packages up to 1Gbps - have a fast and reliable wireless network for connecting multiple devices, which all leads to a better user experience." All this, concludes Udovičić, " with constant work on managing the user experience, it resulted in the growth of user satisfaction in all categories, so in 2022 we ended up with the highest user satisfaction index on the market."
At the end of 2022, Telekom had 286 thousand active postpaid cards, which is 9% more than the previous year. The number of active prepaid cards was 163 thousand, which is an increase of even 42% compared to 2021. There were 240 thousand mobile internet users, i.e. 9% more.
The number of optical users increased by 17% and amounted to 33 thousand, while the total number of broadband connections increased by 3% and amounted to 83 thousand. A 6% increase in the number of TV service users was also recorded, with a total of 87 at the end of the year.
On the financial side, revenue growth of 5,1% compared to the previous year is due to better results in the retail and wholesale services. Operating profit before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA), after lease and excluding special effects, amounted to 28,3 million at the end of the year, which represents a growth of 2,9%. The increase in the profit tax rate after the implementation of the Europe Now program had a significant negative effect on the net profit, through the calculation of tax depreciation, so the net profit in 2022 amounted to 2,3 million, which resulted in a result lower by 23% compared to the previous year year.
In 2022, Crnogorski Telekom continued with the implementation of numerous technologically demanding projects that will significantly improve the provision of services to users and their experience in the Telekom network.
"Telecom's technical sector continued its cloud transformation in 2022, so at the end of the year, all users of mobile voice services were migrated to the new cloud platform. This represents the first step in the development strategy of technological services, and the goal of the project is the consolidation of all voice services on the same platform and cloud environment, which achieves significant advantages in terms of development, operation and commerce. Last year, capacities were also expanded in order to improve the quality of roaming voice and Internet services.
Finally, eTrust - Telekom's trust services are recognized as a very important digital service for the economy and citizens. For this platform, Telekom received the award of the Chamber of Commerce for innovation, as well as the award of Deutsche Telekom, in competition with 22 projects from the entire DT Group. All this gives us additional motivation to continue working on new ideas and solutions in order to justify the recognitions we receive in that area," Udovicic points out.
Overall, the year 2022 was the second year in a row in which Crnogorski Telekom is on the path of post-Covid growth from year to year, growth based on investments and company development. With its management team and all employees of Crnogorski Telekom, the company will work hard to maintain that trend in this year and in the years to come.
The end of a dynamic and commercially successful year in 2022 was also marked by the beginning of a strike by part of the employees, which occurred after the interruption of the social dialogue in the company.
"Negotiations regarding employee benefits contained in the Collective Agreement were interrupted in mid-November last year, after the leadership of the Trade Union presented the company with ultimatums that they themselves know are unsustainable - salary increases of 48% or 30%, payment of winter leave regardless on business results, as well as the increase of all other benefits by certain percentages. The management team and I personally hope to move the demands of the Union. If the demands were brought within the reasonable limits that were explained countless times during the negotiations, the strike of part of the Telekom employees could end literally in 24 hours. The end of the strike of some employees should be in everyone's interest, and the management believes that everyone should make an extra effort to resolve the situation and to return some of the colleagues on strike to the work that awaits them," said Udovicic.
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