Shaping the future: Yettel Serbia’s vision for growth, innovation, and responsibility

Foto: Promo/ Miloš Nadaždin

Mike Michel, CEO of Yettel Serbia, Shares Insights on 2024 Successes and Ambitious Plans for 2025.

• Will the change in ownership structure impact the company's operations (e.g., new business plans, market expansion, employee numbers, or acquisitions)?

The partnership with e& and the forming of e&PPF Telecom Group will bring great benefits to everyone: customers, our employees, and the overall market. Within e&PPF Telecom Group, we have 12.3 million mobile subscribers across four markets and 6.8 thousand employees, while the footprint of e& is 38 countries. In Serbia, we are here to stay, grow, and flourish together with our new partners, and we are all very excited about what the future holds.

Our customers can expect us to become an even stronger choice, offering new and improved products, new digital services, IoT and AI solutions, and data analytics. Speaking of AI, it has emerged as the centerpiece of global business transformation, driven by its potential to revolutionize operations, enhance decision-making, and unlock new revenue streams. The buzz is justified. The AI market size is estimated to reach 1.3 trillion by 2030, while companies are projected to invest over $300 billion annually in AI solutions by 2025.

The new partnership will also help our brands become more competitive and efficient through synergies, particularly in area of new services and innovation. For our employees, it means more opportunities for growth and learning.

As for the overall market, this partnership will drive progress by introducing a new level of investments and knowledge transfer. This is significant not just for us, but for the entire region in which we operate. Yettel is transitioning from a mobile-only company to a digital technology company, and our partnership with e& establishes a strong platform for further regional development. With such a strong partner, we will have greater opportunities to scale our business while maintaining our presence in the Central and Eastern European region.

• What were the company's business results in 2024? What share of the telecommunications market does Yettel hold, how many customers does the company have, and what is the total number of employees?

We are very happy of our results, especially considering the challenges 2024 presented and how effectively we responded. The year has been shaped by geopolitical tensions that have disrupted supply chains and created a cautious business climate. According to McKinsey, businesses globally are projected to spend $130 billion annually by 2026 to enhance supply chain resilience. However, the current environment demands more than resilience—it requires proactive engagement.

Yettel is the revenue market share leader in mobile services, holding approximately 37% of the market. We have been recognized for having the best network for six years in a row and have successfully established a significant presence in the internet and media content distribution market. We are improving our SIM revenue market share and expect to have around 130k users of our TV and fixed services by the end of December.

Yettel Bank is also part of our ecosystem, enabling us to create next-generation customer interactions based on data analytics, AI, a strong network, and advanced products. The bank is fully digital, with customer experience at its core. We intentionally prioritized this design.

While we are satisfied with our performance, looking at the results from all perspectives, we know we must keep pushing the market. The telecom industry’s future lies in its ability to integrate cutting-edge technologies and collaborate across sectors to unlock new opportunities. By 2028, the global telecom market is expected to grow to $2.47 trillion at a compound annual growth rate of 5.4%, reflecting robust investment in 5G, IoT, and green telecom technologies.

• What are the plans for 2025? What will Yettel's investments in Serbia be, which projects are planned, and what about market expansion?

For us at Yettel, our 2025 agenda is clear: we will continue digitalizing customer interactions with us, and we are looking forward to the upcoming 5G auctions.

Serbia is on the right track when it comes to digitalization. Serbian customers are just as advanced as those in other developed countries, shifting toward digital solutions, and are highly focused on this area. Today, our Yettel App has over 1.5 million monthly users and over 300k+ daily active users. Through our app, our customers can handle a vast majority of call types and handle most service needs, such as paying bills, shopping, paying for parking, or buying bus tickets. Even so, there is a lot more we can do. We have a clear digital roadmap in Serbia, and we are steadily transforming our business to accelerate our growth in the digital space.

Additionally, implementing 5G services in the future will drive technological development and enhances user offerings. 5G offers three major advantages: greater capacity compared to 4G, significantly lower latency, which is crucial for specific sectors, and enhanced capabilities across industries. Globally, the overall 5G infrastructure market was valued at around $23 billion in 2023 and is projected to exceed $130 billion by 2030.

• Are any technological innovations planned?

Absolutely. We are focusing on three areas: data, expanding our ecosystem, and artificial intelligence. We are digging deep to identify solutions that will deliver value to our customers.

Customers in Serbia demand more and more data, and are well aware of this. They also value having a unified ecosystem that integrates multiple services and solutions. Artificial intelligence is another innovation on the horizon that is fully compatible with our telecommunications business. Our partner, e&, has over 40 years of experience in leading technological innovations. Yettel has gone through several stages before becoming a company that can capitalize on the power of AI. We have evolved from an organization with vague ideas about AI to developing highly successful use cases, implementing data centricity and quality, and optimizing our organizational design. AI has become a key enabler for delivering meaningful impact and value.

• Is Yettel ready to roll out 5G in Serbia?

Yettel is ready for 5G, and we will participate in the auction, following the conditions set by the Serbian Government and RATEL, the regulatory body. The price and conditions for the spectrum auction will be determined by the Telco Ministry, taking into account existing infrastructure, required investments, and expertise for a quick 5G rollout, the market state of play, the desired impact of 5G on the Serbian economy, and other relevant aspects. More than 35% of mobile data traffic in Serbia passes through the Yettel network. Our ultimate goal is to continue developing and upgrading our network to ensure it remains stable, safe, and reliable, with enough capacity for the growing needs of our customers.

• What initiatives were implemented in 2024 in the area of corporate social responsibility, and are new projects planned?

As a telecommunications company and infrastructure provider, we bear significant responsibility to deliver reliable, secure, and affordable connectivity, helping the environment and the community in which we operate thrive. This has an immense economic impact on modern societies, driving faster development, better connectivity, and improved information flow while bridging the digital gap.

Our commitment goes even further, aiming to push boundaries and involve as many people as possible in our environmental efforts. Our recycling program, launched in 2021, has been highly successful. We are very close to reaching our goal of recycling one million devices by 2025. The response from our customers and communities inspired us to expand the program, so now they can recycle any type of device or equipment purchased at Yettel shops. So far, through our Eco Bonus digital service, we helped recycle over 1.000 tonnes of plastic and 480 tonnes of paper on behalf of our customers and we have the first 100% green network, powered by renewable energy.

This is just the beginning. We aim to use our technology and innovations to reduce our environmental footprint, enhance the customer experience, and become a trusted partner in our customers’ tech lives. That is why we became the first telecommunications operator in Serbia to introduce paperless contract signing. We want to save our customers time and improve their quality of life through modern technology.

(Telegraf.rs/PR)