Cesky Telecom has said that, since July, it has unilaterally reduced the interconnection fee it pays for fixed-to-mobile calls to the two cellular operators with which it does not yet have new interconnection agreements (i.e., market leaders Eurotel and RadioMobil). CT’s interconnection fee has been reduced from more than CZK 7 per minute to some CZK 3 per minute. The two cellular operators disagree, and the sector regulator will have to determine interconnection prices. Given that CT has already reduced (somewhat less so) the fixed-to-mobile tariffs for its end customers, the immediate impact on profits of the above move will be relatively small. However, we do see this development as generally positive for CT, as it should help to stem the migration of call traffic from its fixed-line network onto mobile networks without a major impact on profits. At the same time, the stock is unlikely to respond to this kind of news.
(Ondrej Datka)