Cosmote

Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications S.A.

Type	Public
Founded	1998, independent 2002
Headquarters	Athens, Greece
Key people	Panagis Vourloumis, Chairman Michael Tsamaz, Deputy CEO
Industry	Mobile telecommunications
Products	Mobile networks, Telecom services, Etc.
Employees	2,375 (2008)
Website	www.cosmote.gr

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Cosmote is the largest mobile network operator in Greece, headquartered in Athens. Although it began its commercial operations five years after its local competitors, Cosmote changed the status radically and dominated the mobile telecommunications in Greece. It is the only company of its sector in the world, which entered the market third and yet managed to become number one in only 3.5 years.

Market Share and International Acquisitions

Cosmote is member of OTE, the national telecommunications provider of Greece. It has more than 7,4 m. customers in the country (Sept.2008) holding the top position in the market, with a market share of aprox. 41%. The Group has presence in four other Balkan countries, AMC in Albania, GLOBUL in Bulgaria, and Cosmote Romania in Romania. In Sept 2008, the mobile operators' customer base exceeded 18,6m across its 5-country footprint.

Achievements

From the very beginning of its commercial operations, COSMOTE Group undertook an ambitious network rollout plan as well as a customer friendly commercial strategy viewing mobile telephony as a mass market service. Moreover, it pioneered the introduction of a transparent tariff policy and built upon its core voice offering, while promoting innovative and easy to use data services.

In June 2006 COSMOTE, first in Greece and among the first operators in Europe, introduced HSDPA broadband services, while a few months later the company launched broadband Internet services (ADSL) combined with mobile telephony services, available for the first time in the Greek market. The company has also introduced its products for its customers. Currently, COSMOTE offers a 7.2 Mb/s Internet access in Greece.

Germanos Group

In October 2006, COSMOTE acquired approximately 99% of Germanos Group (owner of Germanos Chain of Stores), consolidating its leading regional position. Through the specialised and efficient Germanos retail network in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Which is now sold), COSMOTE has significantly enhanced its commercial presence in South Eastern Europe, coming even closer to its customers. As a key driver for COSMOTE’s subscriber additions, Germanos contributed about 2.4 million net Group subscribers during 2007 and 811,000 new customers during the third quarter of 2008.

COSMOTE acknowledges that technological progress and responsible entrepreneurship go hand in hand. Further to its dynamic growth, COSMOTE also focuses on the prosperity of the stakeholders that support its development. Undertaking actions and initiatives that respond to each country’s true needs, all COSMOTE Group companies have developed integrated Corporate Social Responsibility programmes with the aim to effectively contribute to society and develop relationships of trust with social partners.

Cosmote Technological and Financial Performances

In June 2008, COSMOTE, for the third consecutive year, ranked among the top performers in the information technology industry worldwide, according to the BusinessWeek Info Tech 100 list.

COSMOTE's revenues in 2007 reached approximately € 3,06 billion in and € 339 million in net income. The Group's EBITDA margin stood at 32,2% with EBITDA profitability at € 985,9 million.

External links

• Cosmote Greece (Greek) (English)
• AMC (Albanian) (English)
• Cosmofon (Macedonian) (English)
• Cosmote Romania (Romanian) (English)
• Globul (Bulgarian) (English)
• Huawei E220 - Highspeed Internet with Cosmote