T-MOBILE IN 2020: SUPPORTING THE COUNTRY, RAPID GROWTH OF DATA CONSUMPTION AND BUILDING A GIGABIT SOCIETY

• Rapidly growing data consumption, increased voice and SMS traffic
• Building of a gigabit society and connecting the country – 5G and fiber networks
• Stable financial and operational results

Prague, February 26, 2021 – The year 2020 has changed our lives. Despite all the negative effects caused by the pandemic, T-Mobile has successfully coped with the situation and proved that operator stands by its customers and by the whole Czech Republic. Even in tough times T-Mobile continued to successfully pursue its vision – connected country, liberalization of Internet and building of a gigabit society. The operator succeeded in the 5G auction, launched a 5G network, expanded the coverage of the the state-of-the-art fiber-optic network and put into operation the first 5G campus network in the Czech Republic. The total investment in 2020 reached the amount of CZK 4.2 billion.

After the spring wave, when T-Mobile offered unlimited mobile data for free, operator subsequently focused on restarting the Czech economy, supporting companies and a brought unique campaign to support domestic tourism. During autumn wave T-Mobile focused primarily on targeted assistance to the most vulnerable groups of customers. For example, it was about providing access to distance learning – for students without internet connection or HW for single families, unlimited data on student tariffs, recharging bonuses. T-Mobile increased transmission speeds for fixed internet free of charge for hygienic stations and hospitals. Their employees received unlimited data for free. Corporate customers could use packages of discounted services or a security audit of the corporate network.

Key importance of year 2020 was for T-Mobile not only due to pandemic measurements but also due to future of the company. The auction of 5G frequencies was the essential moment of last year. Success in the auction gives T-Mobile the necessary opportunities to develop, maintain competitiveness and the possibilities to cope with the growing demands of customers. T-Mobile demonstrated its readiness for next era of mobile communication by the launch of 5G network in Prague and Brno in the beginning of November. Operator also launched first 5G campus network in cooperation with VŠB-TUO in 2020.

Despite all the measures and restrictions in place, T-Mobile has managed to meet its plan to expand the fibre-optic network. In 2020, operator made the state-of-the-art fibre-optic network available to an additional 70,000 households, bringing their total number to 210,000. The pace of network construction should accelerate in coming years even more thanks to joint investment project which was announced at the end of the year.

Enormous efforts not only during the pandemic were reflected in the company's stable financial and operating results. Number of mobile customers reached nearly 6.2 million, fix broadband 368,000, TV 189,000. Total revenues reached CZK 28.3 billion.  

“The events of past months have shown to us essential importance of digitalization of the Czech Republic. For citizens, for education and for maintaining the competitiveness of companies. I am really proud that during this period, our customers could rely on one certainty – that they would not be left without a connection.The T-Mobile network has proven its quality, and the billion investments in increasing its capacity and in new technologies have proven to be fully justified in 2020,”says Jose Perdomo Lorenzo, CEO T-Mobile CZ and Slovak Telekom, adding: “This is a clear confirmation of the correctness of our strategy – state-of-the-art telecommunications and information infrastructure is an essential element for the establishment of a gigabit society.” 

Customers

Mobile services: As of 31 December 2020, T-Mobile’s mobile services were being used by almost 6.2 million customers, the split between contract and prepaid base stays the same – 65% of the base are contract customers. The number of machine-to-machine SIM cards grew by 50,000 to 550,000.

Fixed broadband: In 2019, Fixed services, including xDSL, Pevný internet vzduchem (Fixed Internet Over the Air), or Pevný internet do zásuvky (Plug-in Fixed Line Internet), are currently used by 368,000 customers, it represents 14.9% y/y growth.

TV: T-Mobile TVs on IPTV or satellite platforms are used by 189,000 customers, (26.9% y/y growth compared to 2019).

In thousands	2019	2020	ROUNDED y.o.y.
Customers – mobile	6,265	6,178	-1.4%
Contract	3,591	3,607	0.4%
Prepaid	2,173	2,021	-7.0%
M2M	500	550	10.0%
Net Adds – mobile customers	77	-87	n/a
Contract	32	16	-50.0%
Prepaid	-15	-153	n/a
M2M	61	50	-18.0%
Customers – fix broadband	320	368	15.0%
Customers – TV	149	189	26.8%

Network traffic – growth of all indicators

The pandemic situation affected all indicators of mobile network traffic. The desire to be in intensive contact with loved ones, necessity to work from home, distance learning and the search for information and news were a stress test for T-Mobile's networks, which passed it excellently.

The volume of mobile data (excluding FWA services) increased by 66% year-on-year to more than 166,000 TB. Data traffic, including FWA services (Internet bez drátu, Pevný internet vzduchem and Pevný internet do zásuvky) reached almost 451,000 TB (+43.6% compared to 2019). The number of minutes called increased by 12.5% to more than 13 billion minutes, customers sent almost 5.4 billion (+ 18.9%) of text messages.

Usage	2019	2020	ROUNDED y.o.y.
Minutes (million)	11,697	13,154	12.5%
SMS (million)	4,506	5,355	18.8%
Data (TB) – mobile network w/o FWA	99,837	166,082	66.4%
Data (TB) – mobile network + FWA	314,079	450,999	43.6%

^{Note: Mobile data traffic (include tariffs: Mobile data tariffs + Pevný internet bez drátu). Mobile and fix data traffic (include tariffs: Mobile data tariffs + Pevný internet bez drátu + Pevný internet vzduchem + Pevný internet do zásuvky).}

Mobile data even more affordable

Also in 2020, T-Mobile focused on liberalization of internet. For customers, this meant not only a free increase in the volume of data packages in the My Tariff generation, but also free data for concluding an online contract or purchasing a new smartphone.

Financial indicators

In 2020, total revenues from mobile and fixed-line services including hardware sales approached CZK 28.3 billion which represents 1.6% year-on-year increase. The results confirm the company’s good performance and its position as the number-one operator on the Czech market.

Financial indicators (in CZK million)	2019	2020	ROUNDED y.o.y.
Total revenues	27,924	28,358	1,6%
EBITDA After Lease	11,506	11,365	-1,2%

^{Note: Total revenues reported without ICSS – separate part of DT international business. EBITDA After Lease according new IFRS 15 standard. The numbers are retrospectively adjusted.}

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.