Aims to have all the telecommunication operators in Portugal as clients, while anticipating trends and offering services with less cost.

A carrier’s carrier, that is, a kind of wholesaler for fiber optics. dstelecom provides its fiber infrastructure to retail telecommunications operators, who use it to provide services to both corporate and residential end-customers.

It is an innovative business model which invested greatly  in the currently available fiber network. Since 2009, the company has invested around 120 million euros in this infrastructure, and began market the service in January 2014.

The entry into the market was gradual, however, achieving very high growth rates in 2015 as a result of the growing number of telecommunications operators using its network. "With clear economic and service-level advantages," says Ricardo Salgado, administrator of Dstelecom, a company of the DST Group, based in Braga.

Among the major advantages for operators are the potential savings because they are not required to make large investments in their own networks, as well as the possibility of subscribing to additional services and solutions that integrate communication and information systems. "It is a highly differentiated model in that it is based on the economic rationale of the possibility of using a single fiber optic infrastructure by all retail operators, thus avoiding duplication of investment and inducing operational efficiency", reinforces the administrator.

Another great advantage is also the democratization of access to new generation networks by populations that would otherwise not have this level of telecommunications services available.

JOURNEYING TOWARDS CONSOLIDATION

The year is not yet over but for dstelecom, growth and expected results have already been achieved. A clear motivation for satisfaction in a year when it sought to consolidate its business model, demonstrating that it "built and operates a robust and reliable infrastructure, providing highly demanding levels of service", as Ricardo Salgado reveals.

On the other hand, dstelecom expects to continue to increase its operating profitability, supported by continuous network expansion and increased customer use.

By 2017, the main objective is "to have all the reference telecommunication operators operating in national territory as clients ", an ambitious but possible goal. In addition, the company wants to continue to grow dynamically, and to maintain its investment policy, in order to take advantage of the opportunities that arise in the market.

Services supplied will also be continuously improved and expanded, anticipating, whenever possible, market trends, such as marketing additional layers of connectivity-based services.

Certainly the company will continue to pursue its goals, at least until the approximately two million Portuguese people without access to high-speed Internet can benefit from it. By the end of 2015, the network provided by dstelecom had already reached 300 thousand houses and 30 industrial parks, covering 30% of the country. << Fatima Ferrão >>

Source: Exame Informática December 1st, 2016