Vienna International Telecoms Industry News

The New Location Development Act - Significance for Austria's Attractiveness as a Business Location

The Austrian government has passed the highly controversial Location Development Act in the Council of Ministers, which will speed up environmental impact assessments, be passed by the National Council this year and come into force on 1 January 2019. The new legislation will introduce automatic permits for certain energy infrastructure projects (eg, electricity grids and power plants). Positive reactions are coming from industry and politics. Various environmental associations criticise the new law.

November 22, 2018

Danube Region Business Forum - Infrastructure and Its Implications on Business in CEE and SEE

The Danube Region is one of the traditionally important markets for Central European regions and companies. However, the infrastructure of this region does not yet meet the requirements of the economy. The 8th Danube Region Business Forum will take place on 9 October 2018 at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in Vienna. The aim of the forum is to ensure that the infrastructural quality and cooperations in the region meet the requirements of the economy.

October 3, 2018

Marcus Grausam Confirmed as CEO of A1 Telekom Austria AG

Marcus Grausam has been confirmed as CEO of A1 Telekom Austria AG, a subsidiary of A1 Telekom Austria Group. He was appointed interim CEO in October 2017. Grausam will also continue to perform his function as CTO.

September 4, 2018

Telekom Austria: Strategic Restructuring of Management and Supervisory Board

At Telekom Austria's Supervisory Board meeting, not only the change at the top of the company's Supervisory Board was sealed, but also the restructuring of the Management Board. Thomas Arnoldner (40), previously responsible for Sales & Services on the T-Systems Board of Management, replaces Alejandro Plater as Telekom Austria CEO. Economics lawyer Edith Hlawati takes over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board from Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer.

April 19, 2018

Telekom Austria Prepares Expansion in the Western Balkans

Telekom Austria is strategically strengthening its search for takeover targets and has made EUR 1 billion available in the war chest. CEO Alejandro Plater has announced his intention to expand again in the Western Balkans (Serbia, Croatia and other countries of former Yugoslavia).

April 11, 2018

Telekom Austria AG: Yearly Financial Report 2017

Telekom Austria AG is declaring the following financial reports below.

April 6, 2018

Telekom Austria AG / Results for the Full Year 2017

Telekom Austria Group announces its results for fourth quarter and full year 2017, ending 31 December 2017. Group total revenues rose by 3.0% on a proforma basis (reported: +4.1%), EBITDA increased by 2.0% (rep.: +3.2%). Revenue increase driven by growth in fixed-line service revenues and equipment revenues, while mobile service revenues were lower due to roaming; the revenue increase was driven by all markets except for the Republic of Macedonia.

February 13, 2018

Telekom Austria AG / A1 Telekom Austria Group announces redemption of Hybrid bond 2013

The A1 Telekom Austria Group (VSE: TKA, OTC US: TKAGY) announces that the Management Board of Telekom Austria AG adopted a resolution today to call and redeem the EUR 600 mn hybrid bond issued by Telekom Austria AG in 2013 (ISIN XS0877720986) (the 'Hybrid Bonds').

January 5, 2018

UniCredit Bank Austria Named Best Trade Finance Bank in Austria

US financial magazine Global Finance selected Bank Austria for the eighth time in a row "Best Trade Finance Bank" in Austria.

January 21, 2016

The Miss Earth Beauty Pageant is Coming to Vienna

Miss Earth, an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness is celebrating its 15th year in Vienna. Along with its rivals Miss Universe and Miss World, Miss Earth is one of the three largest beauty pageants in the world in terms of the number of national-level competitions to participate in the world finals and one of the most publicized beauty contests in the world. The reigning titleholders dedicate their year to promote specific projects and often address issues concerning the environment and other global issues. Climate Change will be the focus of Miss Earth for its Crystal Year celebration. Around 90 delegates from all over the world will be arriving on November 18, to start their activities and converge at the Marx Halle in Vienna on December 5, 2015 for the Coronation Night.

October 9, 2015

Telekom Austria Appoints Alejandro Plater as CEO

Telekom Austria announces that its Supervisory Board has allocated the Chief Executive Officer responsibilities to Alejandro Plater (47) as proposed by the two majority shareholders América Móvil and Österreichische Bundes- und Industriebeteiligungen GmbH (ÖBIB). This appointment will be effective as of 1 August 2015.

July 24, 2015

Vodafone Germany Hires Ex-Telekom Austria CEO Ametsreiter

Ex-Telekom Austria CEO Hannes Ametsreiter, who terminated his contract 4 days ago, will take up the position of CEO of Vodafone Germany as of October 1, 2015.

June 19, 2015

Telekom Austria CEO Hannes Ametsreiter Resigns per 31 July 2015

Telekom Austria announced that its CEO Hannes Ametsreiter has prematurely terminated his contract. Rumor has it, that majority shareholder America Movil influenced the decision.

June 15, 2015

State Holding ÖIAG to be Renamed ÖBIB

Austrian state holding ÖIAG is going to be turned into a limited liability company (GesmbH) called "ÖBIB" Österreichische Bundes- und Industriebeteiligungsholding, which will be permitted to make new acquisitions and which will report directly to the Finance Ministry.

January 13, 2015

European Startups in Vienna: Entering a New Age of Pioneering

From October 29th startups will compete for the attention of investors and companies in Vienna. The application for the Pioneers Challenge has just begun. Start-ups have no easy job to enthuse investors for their ideas. But Vienna offers one of the best ways to do just that: During the Pioneers Festival in late October young companies can secure the attention of potential donors and inspire other companies and media for their innovations.

September 18, 2014

Netflix: "We are Proud to Bring the Future of Television to Austria"

Netflix, the American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media followed up its launches in France and Germany by adding Austria to the list of countries in which its streaming services is available. The comapny intends to capture a third of the market share. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California. It started its subscription-based digital distribution service in 1999. By 2009, Netflix was offering a collection of 100,000 titles on DVD and had surpassed 10 million subscribers. By July 2014 Netflix has subscribers in over 40 countries.

September 17, 2014

Ederer Resigns as Supervisory Board Member of OIAG

Brigitte Ederer resigns as supervisory board member and leaves state holding company OIAG.

September 9, 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2015: The Winner is Vienna

"As an internationally-minded city, Vienna is the best venue for this event, and will prove its cosmopolitan nature to the international public. Most importantly, we want the Song Contest on 23 May 2015 to be a cause for celebration for everyone in Vienna - locals and guests alike." says Mayor Michael Häupl.

August 6, 2014

Analysis: Telecom Liechtenstein AG

Telecom Liechtenstein AG ist eine Aktiengesellschaft liechtensteinischen Rechts mit Sitz in Vaduz. Die TLI war bisher zu 100 % im Eigentum des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Nun hat A1 Telekom Austria (mit Mobilkom Liechtenstein) 24.9 Prozent der Anteile übernommen.

July 1, 2014

Siegfried Wolf New OIAG Supervisory Board Chairman

OIAG's supervisory board has appointed Siegfried Wolf as the new Chairman of the supervisory board.

June 27, 2014

Austrian Export Award 2014 for Above-Average Export Commitment

As part of a festive gala evening in Vienna's Museumsquartier, the Austrian Export Prize 2014 has been awarded by the Federal Minister for Science, Research and Economics, Reinhold Mitterlehner, and the President of the Economic Chamber Austria (WKO) Christoph Leitl.

June 26, 2014

Telekom Austria AG / Telekom Austria Group announces EUR 400 million impairment of its Bulgarian subsidiary Mobiltel (Ad-hoc)

Today the Telekom Austria Group (VSE: TKA, OTC US: TKAGY) announces that it will book an impairment of approx. EUR 400 mn for its Bulgarian asset Mobiltel as a result of the company's ongoing regular sensitivity analyses. This impairment is primarily due to an increase in the cost of capital of the Bulgarian segment and changed expectations with regard to medium-term macroeconomic developments in Bulgaria, as well as related market effects which affect the valuation of Telekom Austria Group's business plan for the Bulgarian segment.

June 25, 2014

ÖIAG: Trade Unions Sue Management and Supervisory Board

Trade unions have allegedly sued the management and supervisory board of ÖIAG, in relation to the Telekom Austria shareholder syndicate agreement, daily WirtschaftsBlatt reports in its Thursday issue.

May 22, 2014

Swiss Telecoms Services Provider TalkEasy to Enter the Austrian Market

TalkEasy aims to target the unhappy customers of Telekom Austria, which recently raised its tariffs substantially.

May 12, 2014

Telekom Austria: Considerable Losses in Croatia

Telekom Austria’s Croatian affiliate Vipnet saw a sharp decline in profits.

May 9, 2014

Bulgarian Mobile Affiliate of Telekom Austria Posts Loss in Profits

In the first quarter of 2014 revenues of Mobiltel, Bulgarian mobile operator and affiliate of Telekom Austria, dropped 6.4 percent year-on-year.

May 9, 2014

Telekom Austria AG / ÖIAG and América Móvil sign syndicate agreement

In its 327th session the ÖIAG supervisory board has approved the formation of a syndicate agreement between ÖIAG and Carso Telecom B.V., Amsterdam as well as América Móvil. The syndicate agreement has already been signed.

April 23, 2014 · Updated: May 22, 2014; 00:00

Bulgaria: FDI Keeps Increasing

FDI (foreign direct investments) increased by € 1,229.4m in Bulgaria in 2013 while equity capital came at € 953.4m last year.

February 18, 2014

Czech Republic: New Government Confirmed

Seven weeks after the national elections, the Czech Social Democrats (CSSD) have agreed to form a coalition with ANO and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL).

December 11, 2013

Austria: Federation of Trade Unions Warns of Privatizations

The Austrian Federation of Trade Unions warns the Austrian state not to push through with further privatizations.

December 11, 2013

Telekom Austria: Massive Capital Increase Ahead

In order to implement its expansion strategy, the Austrian telecommunication group will carry out a capital increase next year. In total, the capital requirement comes at € 1.0bn.

October 25, 2013

Romania Plans Next Privatization

According to the Romanian government, Romtelecom may be partly privatized via the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

October 23, 2013

Telekom Austria: No Need for Capital Increase

Against all rumors, Telekom Austria is doing just fine. As reported by “Handelsblatt” insiders claim that a capital increase, which was speculated on, is currently not an issue.

October 18, 2013

Telekom Austria: No Expansion into Serbia

For Telekom Austria, the entry in Serbia fails for the second time. The Austrian telecommunication group will not submit an offer for Serbia Broadband (SBB).

October 10, 2013

Slovenia to Decide about Selling of Telekom Slovenije

The Slovenian government will decide upon the fate of Telekom Slovenije on Thursday, October 3.

October 1, 2013

Poland: Warsaw Stock Exchange to Introduce WIG30

The new index covers thirty enterprises instead of formerly twenty and reduced the dominance of the banking industry.

September 23, 2013

Keuschnigg: Losses of Hypo Compensated by Privatizations

Christian Keuschnigg, head of the IHS (Austrian Institute for Higher Studies) suggests to privatize OMV, Post and Telekom Austria to pay for Hypo Group.

September 20, 2013

Social Responsibility: Richard Branson to Participate at future.talk 2013

In line with his core message "Do good, have fun and the money will come" British entrepreneur, pioneer and self-made billionaire Sir Richard Branson will speak in Vienna on October 8, 2013 about sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship.

September 17, 2013

Romania: Austrian Investors Demand Transparency

In an interview with Business Review Romania, Rudolf Lukavsky, commercial counselor for Romania and Moldova at the Austrian Embassy described the downsides and advantages of the economic environment in the country.

September 17, 2013

Serbia: UK Enterprises Likely to Invest in Serbia

70 British companies are interested in investing in Serbia's economy.

September 6, 2013

Slovenia: Telekom Austria Hesitates

The Vienna-listed Telekom Austria Group has two major growth opportunities in Slovenia. Slovenian Telekom and Telemach are for sale.

September 3, 2013

Vienna among Top 10 of Internet Cities Worldwide

According to Mercer, Vienna is the town with the best quality of live. According to Co.Exist, Vienna is one of the leading Smart Cities worldwide. Now a survey by British enterprise UBM shows that Vienna is amongt the “Top 10 Internet Cities”.

August 28, 2013

Austria: Kapsch Wins Bid For 450 Mhz Frequency Band

Kapsch CarrierCom has acquired nine frequency blocks in the 450 MHz range. The invitation to tender had been announced by RTR GmbH last March.

August 21, 2013

Telekom Austria Has Still Growth Plans in Serbia

According to market rumors, the Vienna-listed telecommunication group is interested in taking over Serbia Broadband.

August 17, 2013

Romania: Another Major Privatization Ahead

Romania´s government intends to sell the publicly held share in the telecommunication group Romtelecom.

August 6, 2013

Slovenia Lures Russian Investors

Slovenia invites Russian investors to participate in privatization plans.

July 30, 2013

Austria: Government Agrees on Stimulus Package

Startled by construction company Alpine’s insolvency, the Austrian government has agreed on the fiercly discussed stimulus package. An amount of € 800m is required additionally.

June 25, 2013

US: Active Investor in Romania

US companies remained active investors in Romania last year. Particulary the IT sector, automotive industry and oil/gas sector are increasingly strengthening their local position. Foreign direct investments from the US came at more than $ 1bn.

June 24, 2013

Slovenia Expects Economic Recovery As Soon As 2014

On Saturday, the Slovenian Finance Ministry expressed its confidence that the newly adopted action plan would help stabilize public finances and help gain economic recovery despite of Fitch’s downgrade.