BULGARIA Confident operator rises to the challenge
WITH SUBSCRIBERS NOW EXCEEDING 1.4 MILLION AND COVERAGE REACHING 90% OF THE POPULATION, MOBILTEL HAS CONSOLIDATED ITS LEADING POSITION IN BULGARIA'S GSM SECTOR, CORNERING 85% OF THE MARKET

At the end of 2000, the two mobile phone companies operating in Bulgaria, Mobikom and MobilTel had captured only 7% of the market, but expectations that this figure would rise dramatically in 2001 are now being realized. MobilTel is the leading national GSM service provider with 85% of market share. Last year it invested around $110 million in new equipment, network modernization and improved services and the result was a flood of new users. For the first time, subscribers to MobilTel topped the one million mark, so it is not surprising that Executive Director, Rumyana Kyuchukova, is determined to focus on retaining customer loyalty.

RUMYANA KYUCHUKOVA Executive Director of MobilTel

What are your priorities for the year ahead?
I joined the company in August 1998 when we had 35,000 subscribers. Since then, we have more than doubled our subscriber base each year. At the end of 1999 we were the fastest-growing GSM operator in Eastern Europe according to the Wall Street Journal. Last year we attracted 630,000 new subscribers, a figure up 110% on the previous year.

What do you believe accounts for this tremendous explosion of growth?
There are two reasons. Firstly, the Bulgarian market is still at the dawn of development. Penetration currently stands at around 18.5%. Nowadays people know that a mobile phone is a necessity, and with growth in the economy and higher salaries, the market is booming. Secondly, as our subscriber base increases, MobilTel never ceases to invest in new infrastructure and to promote new services to our customers.

A DATE WITH THE FUTURE MobilTel’s commitment to customer service has paid off.

What investments have you made in the last year?
This year we increased our operational base stations to more than 900. The suppliers and subcontractors we use are the best in the business: Siemens, Nortel, Alcatel, Nokia, etc. We have also invested in a New Intelligent network platform to support the launch of our pre-paid service. Today, we cover 90% of the population and about 80% of the geographic area, and we have roaming contracts with more than 250 partners in 106 countries, which is very attractive to our customers.

What investment plans do you have for the future?
We have plans to invest more than $113 million on continuous upgrades in the form of enhancing the capacity of our network and in what we term our customer focus strategy. We recently signed a contract with IBM for a new database and software to help us, and our customers, manage phone bills. We are also developing a customer loyalty program. One of our slogans is ‘Mtel is for you’ because our focus is now on providing tailor-made services for our customers.

How has the arrival of GloBul’s GSM network affected MobilTel?
We welcome new competition because it keeps a company in good shape. When we started, we were only competing against Mobikom. At first they had more coverage and better connections. Now we have overtaken them, and the result is that we have 85% of the market compared to their share of about 10%. With the launch of GloBul last September, and possibly a third mobile service in the near future, we will have three competitors. This is good because we will have to continue to convince the consumer that we are the best.

What makes you so confident?
As we have expanded we have continued to work as a family. We are now a family of 2,000 employees and all of us are Bulgarian. They give a lot to our company so we give a lot back. We take care of their families and provide them with extra social security and free hospital benefits, for example. We are still very ambitious, but we also like to promote Bulgaria and its people. This is a confident company.

What does MobilTel do to promote Bulgaria?
We sponsor cultural and sports events and we give money to orphanages and sponsor students who wish to study abroad. We want people all over the world to know that Bulgaria has a highly educated workforce that is extremely capable and broad-minded.