Netia on the move

Netia, the largest independent fixed-line operator in Poland, announced that its revenues for the first nine months of 2005 increased by four percent, in comparison to the first three quarters of the previous year, to reach zł.670.5 million.

"The motor behind this growth was a 30-percent increase in the sales of products other than traditional voice services," said the CEO of Netia, Wojciech Mšdalski. However, the net profit of zł.71.3 million after Q3 signaled a fall when compared to zł.113.5 million in the same period of 2004. Company sources claim that this was due to a change in accounting standards, higher amortization, higher income tax and lower net incomes. If it weren't for the new standards and taxes, the company claims the profit would have increased by six percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2005.

Netia concentrates on providing services for the business sector and Mšdalski underlined that 75 percent of the company's revenues from telecom activities come from that segment. Non-voice services are also a strategic segment for the company. "Income from this field is already 44 percent of that of our telecom activities," Mšdalski said.

Netia is also preparing to launch mobile-phone services through the company P4 (previously Netia Mobile) of which Netia owns 30 percent. In May, P4 won a tender for UMTS frequencies and has since applied for GSM 1800 frequencies.

"In the long-run P4 wants to reach a 20-percent market share in the mobile market. We expect that these services will significantly contribute to the growth of Netia's profits in the future," Mšdalski said.