BoomTV in Macedonia has 11,000 users at end-2009

Thursday, February 25th, 2010
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LJUBLJANA — Pursuant to the Securities Market Act (ZTVP-1) and the Rules of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, Telekom Slovenije d.d. [Ljubljana:TLSG] (of Cigaletova ulica 15, Ljubljana) hereby publishes the summary of the unaudited annual report for the Telekom Slovenia Group and Telekom Slovenije d.d. for 2009.

Significant Business Events During 2009

  • Telekom Slovenije subsidiary On.net d.o.o. is the sole bidder to apply for a DVB-T licence in Macedonia.
  • Telekom Slovenije d.d. and Planet 9 d.o.o. update the interface for SiOL TV plus services to expand functionality, transparency and usability.
  • Telekom Slovenije d.d., Mobitel d.d. and Planet 9 d.o.o. are among the first operators in Europe to introduce web TV with the SiOL iO service. The service enables people to watch TV online, and to access on-demand content and live video from various locations.
  • Telekom Slovenije d.d. offers its SiOL TV users a range of new TV channels, while SiOL TV is available in three different packages from 1 July.
  • Ipko Telecommunications d.o.o. officially launches its DUO package (digital cable TV and internet).
  • Cosmofon and On.net d.o.o. Skopje launch ONE, a new brand under which they will operate and consolidate their position within the Telekom Slovenia Group, as an operator with wide presence in south-eastern Europe.
  • ONE launches BoomTV, the first wireless digital TV for households in Macedonia.

Slovenia

Slovenia is among Europe’s leaders in terms of household penetration by IPTV connections. The PECA reports that Telekom Slovenije (Siol TV) is generating most growth in the IPTV market in Slovenia and is contributing significantly to the development of the market. One of the reasons cited by analysts as a possible element behind the success of IPTV services is that IPTV offers entertainment at home, taking this segment to a whole new level of experience. Many key players in the IPTV market in Europe have established that users want choice (e.g. video on demand, a variety of content), comfort, and control (time delays, video on demand): in other words, they want to have information and content everywhere. One consequence of their needs and lifestyle changes is growth in mobile broadband access and increasing competition in the provision of mobile services.

The trends for the year 2010 point to faster development of new technologies to deepen and enhance the user experience, while the new services are also trying to again make TV sets the focus of the home. Major emphasis is being placed on integrating TV sets with the internet. Communications such as VoIP and video conferencing are also migrating to TV sets. At the same time, there is rapid development of diverse forms of media centres, which use TV sets as mere screens while drawing content from the internet or computers connected into a home network. An increasing number of devices offer the possibility of streaming online audio and video content, largely free of charge. The user can store all of his or her content (images, videos, music, photos, internet content) in one place, and access everything via the TV set.

Kosovo

Ipko d.o.o. is the leading alternative provider of telecommunications services in Kosovo. In March 2009 Ipko began offering digital cable television (DVB-C), and began the gradual withdrawal of programming delivered via analogue cable television. By the end of 2009 it had nearly 43,000 digital cable TV connections.

Macedonia

The purchase of Cosmofone by Telekom Slovenije d.d. has radically altered development plans in Macedonia. In May Telekom Slovenije was granted a DVB-T license, and in July it initiated the construction of a DVB-T network, making all of the most important network elements functional by the end of October, while phase one, which ensured coverage in all of Macedonia’s major cities and towns, was completed by the end of December.

In line with its rebranding, in November 2009 ONE began offering digital television services under the BoomTV brand, thus becoming an integral provider of telecommunications services in the Macedonian market. By the end of 2009 the company had over 11,000 television users.

Mobile television was launched under the name Live TV, which enables users to watch TV programmes on their mobile handsets.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Aneks is the second-largest provider of broadband access in Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It provides services via wireless broadband access and a coaxial cable network.

Since purchasing Netcom, a cable operator in Banja Luka, in 2008, and two network purchases (Prijedor and Gradiška) in 2008 and 2009, Aneks has become a real competitor in cable TV and cable broadband access. By the end of 2009 Aneks had 13,000 cable connections.

In September, as the first operator in Republika Srpska, the company launched a triple package of services (telephony, internet and cable TV), which was well received.

Strategic investments

A new addition to the Telekom Slovenia Group in early September was Digi Plus Multimedia, which was established by Telekom Slovenije d.d. in Macedonia to market digital TV (DVB-T) services. The paid-up nominal capital was EUR 699 thousand.

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