Digitalisation is opening up huge opportunities for economicgrowth, social and individual development and a moresustainable way of living in the interests of people and theenvironment. Within the scope of the vision and strategicorientation of the A1 Telekom Austria Group, digitalisation
is taking on a correspondingly important role.
Vision: Empowering digital life
The A1 Telekom Austria Group’s vision ‘Empowering digital life’ also expresses thefact that the Group has more to offer than just ‘traditional’ telecommunicationsservices. Its self-conception goes far beyond the provision of infrastructure, con-nectivity and bandwidth. It sees itself as a pioneer and driver of digitalisation withthe expertise to create and maintain digital business models and solutions fromconcept to operation.
In the context of its transformation into an ideal digitalisation partner, the A1Telekom Austria Group has committed to increasing efficiency, flexibility, securityand sustainability. In doing so, sustainability is understood as a long-term valuedriver that along with actively practised ecological and social responsibility (see‘Social and Environmental Responsibility’) also has economic advantages — for ex-ample, increased energy efficiency reduces environmental effects as well as costs.
Corporate strategy
In pursuing its vision ‘Empowering digitallife’, A1 Telekom Austria Group is drawingupon a corporate strategy based on thetwo pillars: revenue growth and excel-lence in execution.
Revenue growth
With a view to its growth strategy, the Group is not only building on its leading rolein the CEE region. As part of América Móvil, it is also relying on the strength ofone of the largest telecommunications providers in the world with approximately280 million customers in the mobile communications sector alone (see ‘A1Telekom Austria Group: Part of América Móvil’).
In its pursuit of revenue growth, the corporate strategy is focussed on three coreelements: excel in the core, expand the portfolio and targeted M&A.
Excel in the core
The A1 Telekom Austria Group is focusing on intensifying sales and targetedcross- and upselling activities in order to optimise its core business. This involvesthe key objective of gaining households that are already covered technically ascustomers and thereby optimising the ratio of households covered to householdsconnected. Convergence is another important starting point to ensure a first-class customer experience, with the Group already offering fixed-line and mobileservices in six of its seven core markets. Infrastructure leadership remains a keydifferentiation factor against the competition.
A convincing example of how to excel in the core, but also of facilitating synergyeffects and best possible group-wide leverage of existing assets and capabilities(‘One to all’) is the stepwise roll-out of the A1 brand across all of the Group’soperations depending on local circumstances. In the course of pursuing this onebrand strategy consistently, the Group’s international corporate brand wasrebranded to A1 Telekom Austria Group.
Expand the portfolio
Diversification and standing out from the competition are crucial. This requiresthe courage to be innovative and creative. In line with its ‘Empowering digital life’vision, the A1 Telekom Austria Group’s objective is to become the first point ofcontact and key partner for the digital transformation of companies and to unlocknew potential in digital services such as cloud and ICT solutions as well as in thearea of the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT).
For this purpose, the subsidiary A1 Digital was founded (see ‘Technology andInnovation’), which develops the associated potential for growth above andbeyond the existing footprint.
In private customer business, the Group is increasingly focusing on innovations inall areas of its core business with solutions for entire households. Convergentproduct bundles that include, for instance, TV and music streaming services orcloud solutions are also counted here. What is more, the innovative solution A1Smart Home was launched in 2017 and expands the utilisation potential ofdigitalisation in homes with a wealth of practical solutions.
Targeted M&A
In addition to measures for generating organic growth, the A1 Telekom AustriaGroup will also continue to grow in a sustainable manner by means of targetedand value-accretive mergers and acquisitions. A1 Digital is opening up newpotential in the area of digital services, for example with the acquisition of Swisscompany Exoscale (see ‘Technology and Innovation’), which offers infrastructureand services for cloud applications in Europe.
In its core business, the Group continues to focus on the consolidation of existingmarkets as well as the pursuit of its convergence strategy and subsequently ontapping into new markets.
Excellence in execution
In order to have financial flexibility for investments, operational excellence iscrucial when implementing the Group strategy. The central objectives for this are:continuous improvements, transformation and ‘One to all’.
Continuous improvements
All structures, processes and investment decisions are reviewed and called intoquestion on an ongoing basis. The A1 Telekom Austria Group has set itself thegoal of becoming more efficient every single day.
All types of investment must either generate revenues or reduce costs. This is whyinvestments are deliberately being made in technologies that allow an increase inefficiency and that protect resources.
Transformation
The A1 Telekom Austria Group is accounting for the dynamic change in itsmarkets and its customers’ needs with an appropriate transformation of its oper-ational processes. In addition to a regional presence and call centres, servicesand advice are increasingly being provided on online platforms (multi-channel).
One to all
The A1 Telekom Austria Group’s goal is not to redevelop products and solutionsmultiple times across its markets, but rather to roll out established products inother markets rapidly. In addition to product development, this is also implement-ed in internal processes. A good example of ‘One to all’ is not least the group-wide roll-out of the A1 brand (see ‘Excel in the core’).
Finance strategy and cash use policy
The A1 Telekom Austria Group pursues a conservative finance strategy, with asolid investment grade rating of Baa2 by Moody’s and BBB by Standard & Poor’sat its core. This orientation ensures a solid balance sheet structure with moderateleverage (net debt to EBITDA) and financial flexibility for investments in order tomake use of growth opportunities. The dividend policy aims for a sustainable divi-dend distribution with the potential to grow in line with the operational and finan-cial performance of the Group. For the financial year 2017, Management intendsto propose a dividend of EUR 0.20 per share to the Annual General Meeting on30 May 2018.
Sustainability strategy
The sustainability strategy of the A1 Telekom Austria Group is aimed at activelypractised ecological and social responsibility that promotes a more efficient,resource-saving and therefore more sustainable way of working and living (see‘Social and Environmental Responsibility’). In addition, sustainability is under-stood as a long-term value driver in the economic sense, since more efficiencyand less use of resources also have positive effects on costs.
The A1 Telekom Austria Group’s understanding of its responsibility is based on thethree-pillar model of sustainable development and the triple bottom line ‘People,Planet, Profit’ and thus integrates social, ecological and economic aspects. TheGroup also has targeted activities that support the United Nations’ SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs) (see ‘A1 Telekom Austria Group’s contribution to theSustainable Development Goals’) that were issued in 2015. The Group’s sustain-ability strategy is focused on four action areas that were derived from a materialityanalysis (see graphic ‘Materiality matrix’) last updated in early 2017. Each actionarea is associated with clear targets and specific performance indicators.
Stakeholder dialogue
The continuous dialogue of the A1 Telekom Austria Group with its stakeholderstakes place on three levels: through systematic information via different informa-tion channels, through talks and surveys as well as through shaping membershipsand cooperations. Depending on the topic and the stakeholder group, differentformats are used such as information events, idea competitions, surveys of cus-tomers and employees or one-on-one meetings, conferences or roadshows. ▬
Initiatives A1 Telekom AustriaGroup (Extract)
▸Charta der Vielfalt (seit 2014)
▸Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance
(since 2014)
▸UN Global Compact (since 2012)
▸ETNO (since 1996)
▸GSM Memorandum of Understanding
(since 1988)
Action areas in the field of sustainability
Technology and Innovation
In its role as a driver of digitali-sation and beyond the provisionof connectivity and bandwidth,
A1 Telekom Austria Group pro-vides entire industries, businessmodels and societal as well aspersonal areas of life with awide range of positive develop-ment possibilities.
Environment
Information and communica-tions technologies cancontribute to a more ecologicaland thus sustainable style oflife. This is because it is impor-tant to find innovative solutions
to challenges such as climatechange.
Employees
Digitalisation is accompanied bya profound change of the foun-dations and methods of work-ing. This includes the questionof how employees interact with-in the company as well as withcustomers, suppliers and otherstakeholders. A1 TelekomAustria Group actively promotes
the competences required.
Society
By providing the techno-
logical basis and educationaloffers for equal, digital accessto information, education andknowledge, A1 Telekom AustriaGroup not only serves as aresponsible member of oursociety, but also as an elementbriding gaps.
Materiality matrix
Bubble size represents business relevance for A1 Telekom Austria Group.
A topic’s importance is based on its impact on the environment, society and the economy as well as how relevant it is to A1 TelekomAustria Group’s stakeholders. Thus, the topics most important to A1 Telekom Austria Group are those that have the biggest impactand those that are most relevant to the stakeholders. As an additional dimension, the topics were assessed with regard to theirbusiness relevance for A1 Telekom Austria Group. This allows a perspective that takes into account the topics’ sustainability contextand their economical significance for the company.