Euskaltel starts its national expansion today with the launch of Virgin telco
Bilbao, 20 May 2020. The Euskaltel Group's CEO, José Miguel García, gave a virtual press conference today where he spoke of the first steps taken by Euskaltel as a national operator ready to compete in the telecommunications market by offering advanced quality services under a prestigious brand: Virgin telco.
Jose Miguel Garcia describes this as "a landmark event in the Euskaltel Group's history and for telecommunications in Spain also. 20 years ago, a dream was set in motion with a group of innovative thinkers and today we take yet another step forward by including Virgin as a Group brand. Our customers should be proud to be a part of this piece of history and to know that they will always have access to the best telecommunications services".
Virgin telco is the brand with which the Euskaltel Group will kick off its ambitious national expansion strategy to reach the 85% of the Spanish market where it does not yet operate and offer services to a total 18.4 million homes. In fact, this move to expand through Virgin telco outside its local regions -the Basque Country, Galicia and Asturias, where the Euskaltel, Telecable and R brands operate, respectively- is the cornerstone of its 2020-2025 Business Plan.
With regards the national market where Euskaltel will now operate, the CEO stated "Euskaltel is the only national operator with its decision-making centre outside Madrid, holding on to its roots in the regions where it started out".
This expansion plan will enable the Group to access new profitable growth opportunities on which it can base the company's positive growth in customers and profitability. The Group is confident that by 2025, half of its customers will be located in the new Spanish regions targeted by the launch of Virgin telco and it hopes that its 2019 revenues will have doubled -up from Euros 685 million to Euros 1.3 billion-. The Group is certain that in five years, 40% of its total revenue will come from the Virgin telco business, i.e. around Euros 520 million.
The Euskaltel Group expects the move to expand nationally will more than double the current customer base both in terms of fixed and mobile services. It expects to multiply its current fixed services customer base by 2.3 to over 1.5 million customers, taking on around 800,000 new fixed service customers from the markets included in the expansion strategy. Contracts for mobile services are also expected to exceed 3 million in 2025, compared to the current 1 million, almost tripling the current number of mobile services provided to users.
The Virgin brand's strength, together with Euskaltel's market expertise, quality service and high-value products will ensure that the Virgin brand's positioning in the Spanish market is a value positioning, combining great customer service and competitive prices aimed at providing value to customers.
The offerings will be clear, straightforward and flexible and will be based on excellence in service quality. The products marketed under the Virgin brand will be high-speed broadband, mobile telecommunications with ample data allowances and a solid TV offering.
Virgin telco is the fifth national operator set to shake up the telecommunications industry and comes with a solid value positioning based on two key strengths. On the one hand, the Virgin brand's strong recognition worldwide and in Spain, linked to innovation, experience and modernity. And on the other hand, the Euskaltel Group's market expertise, quality service and high-value products.
Virgin is one of the best-known and most respected brands in the world and has a brand recognition rate of over 75% in Spain. It has earned itself a solid reputation by showing an extraordinary capacity for innovation and customer experience, as well as focussing on transformation and value generation in companies. Founded in 1970 by Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group has developed very successful businesses in industries such as telecommunications, travel, transport, financial services, leisure, entertainment and health. There are currently over 60 different businesses under the Virgin brand in 35 countries and the group has more than 15 million telecommunications customers worldwide. Key markets include the UK, the USA, France, Australia and several Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Chile.
The Virgin telco brand will coexist with the Group?s three established brands (Euskaltel, Telecable and R), which will continue to render leading services in each of their respective regions. Euskaltel considers that the combination of their established regional brands with the Virgin brand, which it will use at national level, will provide excellent growth opportunities.
The Euskaltel Group's CEO also highlighted "the exciting challenge starting now, based on the effort and commitment of all Euskaltel, R and Telecable employees, whom I thank for their professionalism and their".
*This campaign and its commercial activities will comply with the regulations in force at any given time, and in particular with Article 20 of Royal Decree Law 8/2020, of 17 March, on extraordinary urgent measures to deal with the economic and social impact of COVID-19
Euskaltel - Communications
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