Press Releases

Budapest, March 22, 2004 17:00

Matáv's Board of Directors has taken the final decision today on the rebranding of Westel as T-Mobile. The official name of the company will change to T-Mobile Hungary Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (in Hungarian: T-Mobile Magyarország Távközlési Rt.) from the beginning of May 2004.

Westel and T-Mobile International have acted in close co-operation for a number of years. The co-operation both in the area of procurement and development of new technologies and services allows Westel to offer its customers a wider range of services and equipment for more competitive prices. The rebranding is the next step in exploiting the service synergy potentials between Westel and the T-Mobile Group. T-Mobile International is one of the largest international groups of mobile operators and is the only mobile communication company providing a seamless transatlantic service to its customers, in other words you can meet the T-Mobile brand also overseas.

Joining a global group like T-Mobile will not only raise the company's value, but most of all customers will benefit from that move. The subscribers of
T-Mobile Hungary will have access to innovative products and services under the T-Mobile brand. In addition, the rebranding will bring the increased convenience of being able to access additional services offered through the other T-Mobile networks. Michael Günther, Head of T-Mobile Joint Venture Management and a Matáv Board member added: "Utilising the T-Mobile brand is an ideal opportunity for Westel to realise the benefits of a powerful international brand."

András Sugár, Westel's CEO said: "By embarking on this partnership and rebranding Westel, the market-leader, we will be in a position to further increase our international competitiveness and overall customer satisfaction by providing our customers seamless services. In the process, our focus will be clearly on maximising customer benefits with the help of innovative and inspirational solutions and multimedia services."

The rebranding does not signify any change or any intention to alter the ownership of Westel, with Matáv remaining the sole owner of the Hungarian mobile company. Josef Brauner, T-Com's Chief Executive Officer confirmed this, saying: "It would not involve any change in the ownership or management structure of the Matáv Group." He added: "The timing of the rebranding was very important, as Hungary's accession to the EU is an ideal time for Westel to become international."

Financial impact

The Deutsche Telekom Group will be directly involved in the rebranding process, assisting in areas such as marketing communications, corporate identity and design rollout, network update and distribution.

The rebranding will have a positive impact on Westel's financials. It is expected to result in an improved customer base and reduced churn rate, higher ARPU and roaming revenues and a lower subscriber acquisition cost which all result in an improved EBITDA.

The rebranding has one further financial effect on the income statement prepared according to IFRS: the full net book value of the capitalized Westel brand name will be written off during 2004. The vast majority of the write off will be accounted in the first quarter, its respective net income effect (below EBITDA) will be HUF 3.7 bn in the first quarter of 2004. As a result of this, we are revising our depreciation and amortisation guidance for 2004 to a range of HUF 136-139 bn.

About T-Mobile

T-Mobile International is one of the world's leading companies in mobile communications. As one of Deutsche Telekom's four strategic divisions,
T-Mobile concentrates on the most dynamic markets in Europe and the United States. By the end of 2003, more than 90 million people were using the mobile communications services provided by companies in which
T-Mobile or Deutsche Telekom have a majority or minority stake. And all that over a common technology platform based on GSM, the world's most successful digital wireless standard. This also makes T-Mobile the only mobile communications provider with a seamless transatlantic service.