Telecommunications operator Szeptel from Szepietow in the south east of the country unworried by the down turn in the market is continuing to construct a fibre optic system and is hoping to see a rapid improvement in its results.
According to Andrzej Wyszyński, the deputy mangaging director of Szeptel, the priority for the company is to at least double its sales and pull itself out of the red. Last year it lost PLN11m on sales of PLN18.2m.
The investment plan has been significantly reduced. Originally it foresaw PLN900m in investments up to 2005. However PLN80m has been earmarked for the construction of a fibre optic network this year.
‘We are also hoping to increase our work with Telebank’ says Andrzej Wyszyński. ‘Consolidation is also unavoidable. Everyone realises that it would be better to link up rather than continue to invest on infrastructure alone.’
A link up would considerably improve capacity as both companies would be able to profit from the otherís network.
Last month a co-operation agreement was signed and negotiations are still under way as how to deepen this. No agreements have yet been reached on how to finance this project although Andrzej Wyszyński claims that several options are under consideration.
A link up is interesting for two reasons. Telbank would become a quoted company through a link up with Szeptel. The second is that it could then join the proposed national telecommunications group KGT which is designed to compete with the former monopoly TPSA. Companies in KGT are those that have a significant element, if not absolute majority, of state control. KGT is currently based around Tel-Energo and is designed to include NOM, Telefonia Dialog, Telewizja Familijna and perhaps even the jewel in the crown Polkomtel, operator of the Plus GSM network. Potential candidates include internet supplier Pro Futuro and perhaps now even Szeptel and Telbank provided that the shareholders agree.