OTE Group Reports 2008 Fourth Quarter Results

Friday, March 27th, 2009
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ATHENS, Greece — Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (ASE: HTO, NYSE: OTE), the Greek full-service telecommunications provider, today announced audited consolidated results (prepared under IFRS) for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2008.

Greek Fixed-Line Operations

In broadband, as of the end of December 2008, the total Greek ADSL market exceeded 1.6 million subscribers, compared to 1.1 million one year earlier, an increase of 44.9%. Total OTE ADSL customers (retail & wholesale) exceeded 972,000.

Consistent with its strategy to bolster customer loyalty and enhance new service revenues, in February 2009 OTE implemented the commercial launch of its IPTV offering, three months after a successful pilot project. Initially offered in five major metropolitan areas, IPTV service will gradually be expanded to over 40 cities throughout 2009. Conn-x TV offers Greek and international TV programs as well as video on-demand services. Conn-x TV customers have the option of selecting films from a collection of over 200 titles that is updated regularly, or enjoying TV premieres from major studios on a pay-per-view basis. Viewers can also watch television series, movies, music videos, documentaries or cartoon series from a collection that includes more than 700 titles. OTE expects the gradual take-up of this new product to encourage broadband customer take-up of higher access speeds (8 or 24 Mbps).

RomTelecom (Dolce)

OTE, through its wholly owned subsidiary OTE International Investments Ltd, holds a 54.01% interest in RomTelecom S.A., the incumbent telecommunications operator in Romania.

At the end of Q4’08, ADSL lines amounted to 650,000, up 290,000 lines or 81% compared to the level at the end of December 2007.

In addition, by the end of 2008, RomTelecom’s satellite TV offering had attracted 643,000 subscribers, a year-on-year increase of 250,000 customers or 65%.

The increase in penetration of ADSL and direct-to-home (DTH) TV service was successful in preventing migration of fixed-line subscribers to alternative carriers while providing a significant additional revenue stream. Revenues from data services (ADSL, VPN, other broadband services) rose by 33% in the year, while DTH TV revenues jumped 93%.

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