Telekom Austria's Serbian Unit Posts 9-Mo Operating Loss of 68.9 Mln Euro

Comparative figures were unavailable as Vip mobile was licensed as the third mobile operator in Serbia in July last year.

In the third quarter of 2008 Vip mobile generated revenue of 15.8 million euro and negative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 6.2 million euro, a slight decrease compared to the previous quarter, Telekom Austria said in a statement.

Telekom Austria's Serbian unit had 752,600 subscribers at the end of September, compared to 666,600 three months earlier, and its market share was 7.9% at end of September. The mobile penetration rate in Serbia was 127.3% through September.

Vip mobile recorded a negative EBITDA of 52.2 million euro in 2007.

In Serbia, a country of 7.5 million people, Vip competes with state-owned MTS, which holds more than half of the market, and the local arm of Norway's Telenor.

Besides Vip mobile, the wireless operations of Telekom Austria group (www.telecom.at) include Bulgaria's Mobiltel, Belarussian Velcom, Mobilkom Austria, Croatia's Vipnet, Slovenia's Si.mobil and Macedonia's Vip.

($ = 0.7970 euro)