Telekom Srbija

Not to be confused with MTS.

Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd is a Serbian state-owned telecommunications operator. It was founded in May 1997 as a joint-stock company, by spinning off the telecommunications business from PTT Srbija (present-day „Pošta Srbije"). In April 2015, Telekom Srbija started providing all services in Serbia under the mts brand.^[4][5][6]

Telekom Srbija a.d.

Native name	Телеком Србија
Type	Joint-stock company
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	23 May 1997; 25 years ago (1997-05-23)
Headquarters	Takovska 2, Belgrade , Serbia
Key people	Vladimir Lučić (CEO)
Products	Fixed telephony Mobile telephony Broadband Internet IT Services IPTV
Revenue	€1.101 billion (2020)^[1]
Net income	€35.38 million (2020)^[1]
Total assets	€3.875 billion (2020)^[2]
Total equity	€1.458 billion (2020)^[2]
Owner	See Share capital structure
Number of employees	12,722 (2020)
Website	mts.rs
Footnotes / references Business ID: 17162543 Tax ID: 100002887^[3]

As of 2020, Telekom Srbija (combined, with Moja Supernova brand of Telekom Srbija) is the largest Internet provider with market share of 53.15%, the second largest cable operator with a market share of 44%, and the largest fixed-line telecommunication network with market share of 77.5%.^[7] Also, it is the largest mobile telephony operator with market share of 37.27%.^[7]

History

 

Telekom Srbija's previous logo used from 1997 to 2015.

Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd was set up in 1997, during the process of transformation of PTT sistema Srbije. In June that same year, it became the ownership of three shareholders – JP PTT Saobraćaja Srbija (present-day JP Pošta Srbije) (51%), Telecom Italia (29%), and OTE Greece (20%).^[8][9]

2003–2015

JP PTT saobraćaja Srbija (present-day JP Pošta Srbije) became the owner of 80% of the stake after purchasing the shares from the Italian partner, Telecom Italia in 2003.^[10]

In 2007, the Company regionally expanded into B-H and Montenegro. That same year, “Telekom Srpske“ a.d. Banja Luka^[11] and Društvo za telekomunikacije m:tel d.o.o. Podgorica were set up. ^[12]

In August 2011, the company became the majority owner of Društvo za telekomunikacije HD WIN d.o.o. Beograd (Arena Sport TV Channels).^[13]

In January 2012, the company became the owner of 20% of the share capital which had been held by OTE Greece until then.^[14] That same year, the employees and former employees of Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd, were presented with an opportunity to become owners of the shares.^[15]

2015–present

On 6 January 2015, Telekom Srbija acquired a 55.8 percent of shares in the Dunav banka, becoming its majority owner.^[16] Afterwards, the bank changed its name to "mts banka".

As of 2016, it is the largest broadband internet provider (45.9% market share) and the second largest cable television provider (25.0% market share) in Serbia.^[17]

In November 2018, Telekom Srbija bought domestic cable operator "Kopernikus Technology" for 190 million euros.^[18][19] The transaction made public outrage in Serbia as Kopenikus' market worth at the time of purchase was several times lower than the amount it was purchased for; it was also revealed that major stakeholder in company was a close relative to ruling Serbian Progressive Party officer.^[20] Month later, Kopernikus' former owner used much of that money for the purchase of B92 and Prva Srpska Televizija, two television networks with national coverage.^[21]

On 6 January 2019, Telekom Srbija acquired domestic cable operators Radijus Vektor and "AVcom", in a transaction worth 120 million euros.^[22]

In July 2019, Telekom Srbija acquired another regional cable operator "Telemark".^[23] Later in July, Euronews and HD-WIN (majority owned by Telekom Srbija) signed a deal to launch the "Euronews Serbia" news channel.^[24]

Services and business operations

Telekom Srbija mobile network was established on 9 June 1997. The Company launched the provision of mobile services in 1998. 3G technology and ADSL Internet services were introduced in 2006, multimedia services (IPTV) in 2008.^[25] Whereas LTE (4G) technology was introduced in 2015.^[26] At present, Telekom Srbija provides the following services:

Mobile telephony

 

mts' previous logo stylized as "mt:s", used until 8 April 2015.

Mobile Telephony of Serbia was founded in June 1997 as the mobile telephone subdivision of Telekom Srbija. Mobile Telephony of Serbia started operating in August 1998.

Mobile network technology

• 2G on 900 MHz & 1800 MHz
• 3G on 900 MHz & 2100 MHz
• 4G on 800 MHz, 1800 MHz & 2100 MHz ( up to 300 Mbit/s )
• 5G on 700 MHz, 2600 MHz & 3500 MHz ( up to 1 Gb/s )

The Mobile Telephony of Serbia signal covers 92.00% of Serbia's inhabited territory and 89.13% of Serbia's land area. Company has 1.521 active base transceiver stations (BTS). The mts mobile network codes are: 064 (international: +381 64), 065 (international +381 65) and 066 (international + 381 66).

Fixed-line telephony

Telekom Srbija formerly held a monopoly on all land-line services in Serbia until 2010, when Telenor Serbia became the second land-line operator in the country.^[27] Telekom Srbija has 2.42 million customers. It is the largest operator in Serbia on the fixed telephony market in 2018(the market share is 81.8%).^[28]

mts Internet

• Mondo.rs – News portal (political, business, sports, entertainment and interviews from Serbia and around the world).

Digital Television

Telekom Srbija is the majority owner of sports television channels Arena Sport which broadcast in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.^[29]

Mts offers cable television under the Supernova brand, digital terrestrial pay-TV under the Antena Plus brand, IPTV service under the brand Iris, as well as satellite television under the brand m:sat TV in Serbia and Montenegro.

Areas served

Austria

Telekom Srbija operates in Austria as a mobile virtual network operator MVNO under brand MTEL ^[30]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Telekom Srbija acquired a 65% controlling stake in Telekom Srpske for 646 million euros in 2006, outbidding Telekom Austria with an offer of 467 million euros. Telekom Srbija also broadcast cable channel Arena Sport 1,2,3 and 4.^{[citation needed]}

Montenegro

Telekom Srbija started its operations on Montenegrin market on 16 July 2007, after the company gained license as a third mobile operator as a part of the consortium with Ogalar B.V. company. The consortium offered for the license the sum of €16 million. The name for this subsidiary is m:tel, and is owned 51% by Telekom Srbija. On Montenegrin territory, Telekom Srbija also broadcasts cable channel Arena Sport 1, 2, 3 and 4.^{[citation needed]}

Kosovo

Since an EU-mediated agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, Telekom Srbija is allowed legally to operate across Kosovo using the country's new dialing code +383. Currently the network covers only the northern part of Kosovo with a market share of 1.65% behind IPKO and vala (Q2 2018).^{[31] [32][33]}

North Macedonia

Telekom Srbija operates in North Macedonia as a mobile virtual network operator MVNO under brand MTEL ^[34]

Switzerland

Telekom Srbija operates in Switzerland as a mobile virtual network operator MVNO under brand MTEL ^[35]

Share capital structure

As of 3 May 2012:^[36]

• The Republic of Serbia is the majority owner of the company (58.11%)
• Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd (20%)
• Citizens of Republic of Serbia (14.95%)
• Employees and former employees of Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd,(6.94%)

Subsidiaries

Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd shares in the capital of its related legal entities is as follows:

• "Telekom Srpske" a.d. Banja Luka – 65%
• m:tel d.o.o. Podgorica – 51%
• Telus a.d. Beograd – 100%
• HD-WIN d.o.o. Beograd – 100%
• GO4YU d.o.o. Beograd – 100%
• mts Antena TV d.o.o. Beograd – 50%
• mts d.o.o. – 100%
• YUNET INTERNATIONAL d.o.o. – 82.026%
• Kopernikus technology d.o.o. Beograd – 100%
• Preduzeće za audio i video komunikacije "AVCOM" d.o.o. Beograd – 100%
• Društvo za inženjering, trgovinu i usluge "Radijus vektor" d.o.o. Beograd – 100%
• Društvo za inženjering, trgovinu i usluge "MASKO" d.o.o. Beograd – 100%
• Preduzeće za promet, usluge, inženjering i telekomunikacije "BPP ING" Grocka – 100%
• Telemark systems d.o.o Čačak – 100%

These legal entities also constitute Telekom Srbija Group together with Telekom Srbija a.d. Beograd as the parent company.

Gallery

•  

  Telecommunication center

•  

  Ground satellite station

See also

• Telecommunications in Serbia

References

1. "КОНСОЛИДОВАНИ БИЛАНС УСПЕХА (2020) – Telekom Srbija a.d." apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 5 December 2021.
2. "КОНСОЛИДОВАНИ БИЛАНС СТАЊА (2020) – Telekom Srbija a.d." apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 5 December 2021.
3. Основни подаци о привредном друштву. apr.gov.rs (in Serbian). Serbian Business Registers Agency. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
4. ""mts" postaje brend za sve usluge "Telekoma Srbije"". ekapija.com. 6 April 2015.
5. "ARBK".
6. "Telecommunications". The Dialogue. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
7. "PREGLED TRŽIŠTA TELEKOMUNIKACIJA I POŠTANSKIH USLUGA U REPUBLICI SRBIJI U 2020. GODINI" (PDF). ratel.rs (in Serbian). RATEL. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
8. "A brief overview of the history of the Post of Serbia". posta.rs. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
9. "Greece's OTE Join to Buy 49% Stake in Serbian Telecom". wsj.com. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
10. "About us – History". Telekom Srbija. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
11. "Telekom Srbija kupio Telekom Srpske". mondo.rs. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
12. "CG: M:tel preuzeo 12,8% tržišta". tanjug.rs. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
13. "Telekom Srbija Becomes Majority Owner of Arena Sport TV Channels". Seenews. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
14. "Telekom Serbia in state's ownership". tanjug.rs. Retrieved 21 January 2021.^{[dead link]}
15. "RTS: Free shares of Telekom". rts.rs. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
16. "Telekom Srbija becomes Dunav Banka majority shareholder". telecompaper.com. No. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
17. "Pregled tržišta telekomunikacija i poštanskih usluga u Republici Srbiji u 2016. godini" (PDF). ratel.rs (in Serbian). Belgrade: RATEL. 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
18. Obradović, M. (6 November 2018). "Telekom: Kopernikus smo platili manje od 200 miliona evra". danas.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 November 2018.
19. "Serbia's state telco buys cable TV, internet provider Kopernikus -newspaper". reuters.com. Reuters. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
20. Obradović, M. (13 November 2018). "Milićević: Kopernikus vredi 37,5 miliona evra". danas.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 17 November 2018.
21. "Srđan Milovanović: Of-šor biznismen i folk producent". Danas. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
22. Obradović, M. (9 January 2019). "Telekom grabi ka duopolu sa SBB-om". danas.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 13 January 2019.
23. "Telekom Srbija kupio kablovskog operatora Telemark". b92.net (in Serbian). 5 July 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
24. "Euronews and HD-WIN announce launch of Euronews Serbia". euronews.com. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
25. "Тelekom Srbija to Introduce IPTV". b92.net. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
26. "Telekom Srbija launches 4G network". еGate. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
27. . WirelessWeek. 22 January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
28. "An Overview Of The Telecom And Postal Services Market In The Republic Of Serbia" (PDF). Ratel. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
29. "Telekom: Za Arena Sport 7,7 mil.€" (in Serbian). B92. 26 August 2011.
30. MTEL Austria website
31. "Mts starts new licence in Kosovo with 60,000 users". www.telecompaper.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
32. "Naslovna". mtsdoo - privatni. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
33. Archives, E. W. B. (15 December 2016). "Implementation of the Telecommunications Agreement in Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue". European Western Balkans. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
34. MTEL Macedonia
35. MTEL Switzerland
36. "Share capital structure". Telekom Srbija. Retrieved 17 April 2013.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Telekom Srbija.

• Official website
• Telecommunications Market of Serbia for 2016 at ratel.rs (in Serbian)
• Mondo
• Arena Sport