Ringing the changes
The Polish telecom has long floated the idea of a rebranding and reports suggest the president of its Centertel unit is in favour of the move, saying Centertel's board supported a switch to Orange's global brand
"We believe it's the only sure road to further development," said Centertel's president, Slawomir Skrodzki.
But analysts said the arguments for change should be balanced by the costs of the operation and questioned the timing of the decision, particularly as Orange's worldwide rivals look to be at least a year away from launching in Poland.
"I see this negatively- bringing in a new brand would mean big expenses just to create the brand, plus royalties later. Centertel already has a good brand with Idea, and I don't see big gains from globalisation," said BRE bank's Michal Marczak.
With combined market penetration of around 60 percent, Centertel and its rivals Polkomtel and PTC have reported annual subscriber growth rates of above 30 percent. Orange's rival global operators, Vodafone and T-Mobile, have stakes in Polkomtel and PTC, respectively.
France Telecom is in the process of increasing its stake in TP SA to 47.5 percent, and this may be one reason for the change. Centertel may also hope to use the publicity and interest generated by a switch to an international brand to help in its long-term goal of taking over the market lead from PTC, which trounced its competitors in 2004.
Analysts point to Westel, the mobile unit of Deutsche Telekom's Hungarian arm Matav, to show how local operators could benefit from such campaigns. "Westel rebranded to T-Mobile, and they found that because T-Mobile paid for the marketing campaign it actually boosted their subscriber growth-it may well be that [Centertel is] looking at that example," said Anna Bossong., an analyst with CA IB
Meanwhile, Centertel is expected to choose two equipment suppliers for its planned third-generation services network within the first quarter. The company is now in talks with France's Alcatel, Canada's Nortel and Finland's Nokia. (Reuters)
J.T.
Kulczyk out?
Jan Kulczyk could be dropped from the board of TP SA, as France Telecom (FT) strengthens its hold on its Polish affiliate. Analysts expect his removal as one of a number of changes to the supervisory board aimed at reflecting FT's larger shareholding. FT has already agreed to buy out Kulczyk's 13.57 percent stake in the company-taking its holding to 47.5 percent. Jan Waga, chief executive of Kulczyk Holding, also represents Kulczyk on the board. (Reuters)
L.M.
"We believe it's the only sure road to further development," said Centertel's president, Slawomir Skrodzki.
But analysts said the arguments for change should be balanced by the costs of the operation and questioned the timing of the decision, particularly as Orange's worldwide rivals look to be at least a year away from launching in Poland.
"I see this negatively- bringing in a new brand would mean big expenses just to create the brand, plus royalties later. Centertel already has a good brand with Idea, and I don't see big gains from globalisation," said BRE bank's Michal Marczak.
With combined market penetration of around 60 percent, Centertel and its rivals Polkomtel and PTC have reported annual subscriber growth rates of above 30 percent. Orange's rival global operators, Vodafone and T-Mobile, have stakes in Polkomtel and PTC, respectively.
France Telecom is in the process of increasing its stake in TP SA to 47.5 percent, and this may be one reason for the change. Centertel may also hope to use the publicity and interest generated by a switch to an international brand to help in its long-term goal of taking over the market lead from PTC, which trounced its competitors in 2004.
Analysts point to Westel, the mobile unit of Deutsche Telekom's Hungarian arm Matav, to show how local operators could benefit from such campaigns. "Westel rebranded to T-Mobile, and they found that because T-Mobile paid for the marketing campaign it actually boosted their subscriber growth-it may well be that [Centertel is] looking at that example," said Anna Bossong., an analyst with CA IB
Meanwhile, Centertel is expected to choose two equipment suppliers for its planned third-generation services network within the first quarter. The company is now in talks with France's Alcatel, Canada's Nortel and Finland's Nokia. (Reuters)
J.T.
Kulczyk out?
Jan Kulczyk could be dropped from the board of TP SA, as France Telecom (FT) strengthens its hold on its Polish affiliate. Analysts expect his removal as one of a number of changes to the supervisory board aimed at reflecting FT's larger shareholding. FT has already agreed to buy out Kulczyk's 13.57 percent stake in the company-taking its holding to 47.5 percent. Jan Waga, chief executive of Kulczyk Holding, also represents Kulczyk on the board. (Reuters)
L.M.
