Orange: We could bid higher. We know the band backstage betting on LTE – Wyborcza.biz

It turns out that despite Europe’s highest rates frequency of 800 MHz, the operators were ready for yet higher. At least Orange Poland, which wylicytował most: two 800 MHz and three 2600 MHz in total pay 3.17 billion zł. Roughly as much valued the entire auction back in the spring.

Two scenarios, one answer

– We were prepared for more – he betrayed by Maciej Nowohoński, board member of Orange on. finances.

Recall that Orange Poland is the only one of the four major teleoperatorów did not raise objections to the sudden decision by Andrzej Halicki, minister of administration and digitization, to shorten the auction.

Why such a determination?

– we had planned two scenarios for the development of the company – with streaks of LTE and without. In the first version of our participation in services related to broadband would be four times higher than in the second – said Maciej Nowohoński at a meeting with reporters after announcing the operator’s results for the third quarter. He admitted that the company did not provide until the massive popularity of LTE customers. – Today, the use of related services exceeds our calculation of the year by as much as 60 percent. A forecast third-party talking about 12-13-fold increase in traffic in LTE over the next five years.

will be higher transfer? There will be no increases

After the auction, the final size of the pot surprised almost everyone, there are voices that operators will reflect that his clients abandoned in cheap packages or even increasing services prices . However, present at the meeting president Bruno Duthoit Orange Poland reassured: – We have no such intention. We hope that customers will use more data at current prices, which translate into higher revenues.

Asked about alliance with T-Mobile in the use of new frequency bands (blocks both teleoperatorów adjacent to each other, allowing for strong synergies in the form of eg. higher transmission) replied that such cooperation is technically justified, though not automatic. And if it happened, hoping that T-Mobile will engage in the development of new bands similar measures as Orange, more than 200 million zł over the next two years. Also hopes that as a result the company manages to get close to 100 percent coverage of the country of LTE.

This is a turning point for the industry

Ponaddwuprocentowy decline in the value of shares in Orange on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Thursday on news of forecast reductions next year’s dividend to 25 cents is the first tangible result of the auction. As explained Maciej Nowohoński, the amount of dividends depends, inter alia the scale of investments in fiber optics. Long worrying investors information is the company’s debt limit to be exceeded by a quarter. Nowohoński said that balance may improve for the sale of redundant properties valued at around 700 million zł. In his opinion, the market is at a turning point for the industry. Purchasers of new bands will have to develop new market strategies.