Last April, dstelecom celebrated 15 years of history. It has been connecting the Portuguese to the digital world for more than a decade and a half, thus contributing to reducing inequalities and equalizing opportunities, from north to south and from the coast to the interior of the country.

To end a month of celebrations, we asked some faces that have accompanied us throughout our history to share with us how they felt about this milestone.

It was with poetry that José Teixeira, President of the dst group, presented us:

“What I walked to get here” is a verse from a song by José Mário Branco that describes well the dst way of being when it enters into sophisticated and long-term businesses. It takes resilience and remembering that there is time to sow, there is time for the earth, to germinate and grow, and there is time to harvest. And to reap, there is another set of verses, by the same singer-songwriter, who advises the economy: “I'm going far away/to far away/where we're going to meet/with what we have to give us”. In this distance lies the challenge of overcoming impatience.

dstelecom's business is a business that tests our nerves, capital-intensive investment and long-term remuneration, “where are we going to meet/with what we have to give”. We love just being well where we are not (António Variações, adapted), we love this business. We love having the right team for the impossible".

Henri Piganeau, Managing Partner of Cube Infrastructure Fund, a Luxembourgish fund that is a shareholder of dstelecom, confesses to having been “seduced by the culture of the dst group and dstelecom, by the competence and transparency of the teams, by the constructed, ambitious and realistic character of the industrial approach”.

“The partnership negotiation was professional and I was quickly convinced that the prevailing core values of both the dstelecom management team and our co-shareholder dst would make this project a success. A big thank you for all the work done during these 15 years. All dstelecom teams can be proud of the progress achieved!”, he concludes.

Xavier Martin, director of dstelecom, reminds us that “dstelecom is fifteen years old, which is the age of dreams. I dream of a barrier-free and inclusive world, in which geography is no longer a barrier to everyone's access to digital riches”.

Together, we are realizing, step by step, Xavier's dream, which is also ours. In hindsight, he assumes that “a lot has been achieved in this time. We are an unlikely success in a market of giants. Faced with the pessimism of reality, we favored the optimism of will and passion, with boundless daring to face all the challenges we encountered. And we did it by privileging humanity over technology, trying to make everyone, workers and customers alike, feel great".

But because the quality of a company's offer is closely linked to its suppliers, we could not fail to invite Carlos Rydin, Account Director at ZTE, to share a few words with us:

“Our stories are intertwined. During the 12 years of partnership, we have evolved together. We believe that we have helped dstelecom to grow and assert itself in the Portuguese telecommunications market. It is common to hear good references from dstelecom and its team, when we contact the various players in the market, which for us is a pride that we share with you.
dstelecom has new challenges and projects ahead. We hope to be able to help you to achieve new successes. Congratulations".

It is messages like these that show us that we are on the right path. We believe that good companies are made of good people and we are proud to realize that, over this decade and a half, we have surrounded ourselves with exceptional stakeholders.

In this group, we cannot fail to highlight some workers. Incomparable human beings, professionals of excellence, dedicated and committed to our purpose, as is the case of Isidro:

“15 years… So proud! I still remember the butterflies I felt in my stomach when I accepted the proposal to be part of dstelecom. Without a doubt this company has changed my life in every way. I became more responsible, more professional and a better human being. I learned that in life not everything is easy to achieve and that everything is the result of our struggle. Today, I continue to embrace this project as if it were mine”.

With the position of Zone Manager, he also confesses “walking the field is my thing. Thank you dstelecom!”

Sérgio, Chief Technology Officer, has also been with us almost since the beginning of our journey.

“I am honored to be part of this long-standing success story”, he reveals.

When you think of the biggest milestones that followed, you don't hesitate:

“These more than 14 years of history in common with dstelecom were full of opportunities, challenges and successes, of which I would highlight the following: growing professionally, helping the team grow professionally, creating a telecommunications network from scratch, innovating, living together and learn from fantastic professionals, make friends, find love, win contests for RNG Norte and AA, have all operators as our customers and reach 250k accesses”.

With so many victories achieved together, it is easy to see the relationship between him and dstelecom.

“For me, dstelecom is not just the company where I work. I feel dstelecom as a part of me, I feel the wins and losses of this company as being my wins and losses. I feel co-responsible for what dstelecom is today! Here's to another 15 years of the same!”, he declares.

Finally, it would not be possible to mark this milestone without the words of Ricardo Salgado, CEO of the company.

“Fifteen years of life. Fifteen years of challenges. Today we celebrate a successful journey, of a pioneering business, in a mature sector, with large players and recognized success. A still short path, but intense and daring. A noble and powerful purpose. A bold vision. A hand-picked team. Without fear of prioritizing Values. Unafraid to value enthusiasm, curiosity and optimism.

Driven by the ambition to do what no one had done before, to committed shareholders, we added audacity, determination and passion.

With the conviction that we are at the beginning of a long road, we will boldly continue to work to improve the quality of life of populations, guaranteeing universal access to connectivity and, thus, contributing to a better and more sustainable society”.

To all those who daily help us to improve the quality of life of Portuguese families through our digital highway, thank you!

We move forward, together, with eyes on the future.