BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.19
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgian incumbent telecom operator Silknet released the audited 9M2020 results, showing slight underperformance in 3Q2020, albeit at a lower pace compared to 2Q2020, Trend reports via Georgian Galt&Taggart analytics company.
With 282.9 million lari ($6.3 million) worth of revenue and 156.9 million lari ($47.9 million) EBITDA, Silknet maintained a strong second place in Georgia’s telecom industry.
After declining by 2.5 percent year-on-year in 2Q2020, commercial revenue was down 2.1 percent year-on-year to 91.4 million lari ($27.9 million) or $29.5 million in 3Q2020. Growth in mobile voice and mobile data revenues in 3Q2020, was not enough to offset lower income from SMS (-46 percent year-on-year) and fixed broadband revenue categories.
Notably, revival of economic activity in the summer months, helped the company to return to last year’s levels in all major revenue streams. Carrier service revenue, which makes up c.10 percent of total revenue, continued the decline, down 24.9 percent year-on-year in 3Q2020.
The lifting of strict lockdown measures from late May, helped Silknet’s 3Q2020 performance.
Mobile data growth continued in Georgia, with monthly data usage hitting the highest level on record in August, boosted by “unlimited data packages” offered by the major operators. Increased usage of mobile data has put pressure on traditional mobile revenue streams, such as voice and SMS, which were down by 10.8 percent year-on-year and 21.9 percent year-on-year in 3Q2020 on a sector-wide level.
Overall, mobile revenues declined by 3.1 percent in 3Q2020. The growth in fixed broadband, which used to be one of the fastest growing segments in telecom industry, has declined, with 3Q2020 revenues up 2.4 percent year-on-year.
Silknet is the incumbent telecoms operator in Georgia with an extensive backbone and last-mile infrastructure across the country.
The company holds sustainably strong market shares above 30 percent in in fixed-voice, fixed-broadband (FBB) and pay-TV segments, but is only the second-largest after Magticom, its key rival.
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