TTComm offers connectivity to cash-strapped clients
The firm provides solutions in last-mile connectivity, linking individual subscribers to existing networks.
TTComm is wholly owned by a group of private U.S. investors through a Netherlands-incorporated vehicle. Its infrastructure in Poland includes a satellite hub in Mińsk Mazowiecki near Warsaw and more than 1,000 VSAT points across the country. The market for such solutions is estimated at zł.13.6 billion ($3.5 billion) worldwide, though it has not yet taken off in this country. The firm expects its market to grow three to four times over the next two years.
TTComm Chairman of the Board Edward Mier-Jędrzejowicz says that, "it is still going to be quite some time before Telekomunikacja Polska (TP SA) can reach huge parts of the country with its fibre." He points to the example of Spain, where TTComm's equipment provider, Hughes of the USA, recently signed a deal to provide 12,000 satellite access points in areas that the country's national operator, Telefonica, had failed to reach. Although the low level of fixed-line penetration, at around 30 percent, opens up an opportunity for alternative operators, the problem facing the company is the low level of income in remote areas, where the problem is most accute.
TTComm seeks to get round the problem by launching a new product, eGmina (for gmina - municipality), addressed at local government institutions that are likely to benefit from the inflows of EU structural funds following accession. The product offers Internet access, including facilities for video-conferencing, voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VOIP) and e-learning to public administration institutions.
Mier-Jędrzejowicz points out that the EU agenda for the creation of an information society envisages that all public administration units should have Internet access by 2006, thus increasing the likelihood that municipalities keen to take advantage of the product would be able to secure EU financial aid. The monthly fee for the service is estimated at around zł.1165 ($300) for a three-year contract, though it will be significantly lower should the client contribute to the initial costs of setting up the relevant infrastructure.
To date, the company has derived just over a third of its revenues from contracts with public-sector entities, though this share is expected to grow. TTComm is also targeting large corporate clients, singling out gas station chains as potential clients.
"The previous owners did not treat the marketing of the product as a priority, so we expect to grow the business by making great strides in this respect," says Mike Jarvis, a supervisory board member and one of the firm's owners.
Yet while there can be no doubt that many areas of the country could do with great improvements in their telecoms infrastructure, it is less clear whether the finance to put it in place will be readily available in the near future.
TTComm is wholly owned by a group of private U.S. investors through a Netherlands-incorporated vehicle. Its infrastructure in Poland includes a satellite hub in Mińsk Mazowiecki near Warsaw and more than 1,000 VSAT points across the country. The market for such solutions is estimated at zł.13.6 billion ($3.5 billion) worldwide, though it has not yet taken off in this country. The firm expects its market to grow three to four times over the next two years.
TTComm Chairman of the Board Edward Mier-Jędrzejowicz says that, "it is still going to be quite some time before Telekomunikacja Polska (TP SA) can reach huge parts of the country with its fibre." He points to the example of Spain, where TTComm's equipment provider, Hughes of the USA, recently signed a deal to provide 12,000 satellite access points in areas that the country's national operator, Telefonica, had failed to reach. Although the low level of fixed-line penetration, at around 30 percent, opens up an opportunity for alternative operators, the problem facing the company is the low level of income in remote areas, where the problem is most accute.
TTComm seeks to get round the problem by launching a new product, eGmina (for gmina - municipality), addressed at local government institutions that are likely to benefit from the inflows of EU structural funds following accession. The product offers Internet access, including facilities for video-conferencing, voice-over-the-Internet protocol (VOIP) and e-learning to public administration institutions.
Mier-Jędrzejowicz points out that the EU agenda for the creation of an information society envisages that all public administration units should have Internet access by 2006, thus increasing the likelihood that municipalities keen to take advantage of the product would be able to secure EU financial aid. The monthly fee for the service is estimated at around zł.1165 ($300) for a three-year contract, though it will be significantly lower should the client contribute to the initial costs of setting up the relevant infrastructure.
To date, the company has derived just over a third of its revenues from contracts with public-sector entities, though this share is expected to grow. TTComm is also targeting large corporate clients, singling out gas station chains as potential clients.
"The previous owners did not treat the marketing of the product as a priority, so we expect to grow the business by making great strides in this respect," says Mike Jarvis, a supervisory board member and one of the firm's owners.
Yet while there can be no doubt that many areas of the country could do with great improvements in their telecoms infrastructure, it is less clear whether the finance to put it in place will be readily available in the near future.
