Hungary’s second largest mobile operator by subscribers Pannon, which is owned by Norway’s Telenor, posted 1Q10 revenues of HUF39.2 billion (USD184.89 million) in the three months to 31 March, down 9.7% from HUF43.4 billion in the same period of 2008. In a report published yesterday, Pannon went on to say that first-quarter EBITDA dipped 9.8% year-on-year to HUF16.5 billion, while CAPEX in the period under review topped HUF1.7 billion, down 38% y-o-y. In a bid to trim operating costs Pannon laid off 250 employees during the first quarter.
The cellco closed out March 2010 with 3.6 million subscribers, down 29,000 from the end of 2009, while its market share also slipped marginally to around 33%, it said. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, as at 31 December 2009 Hungary’s leading cellco by subscribers was T-Mobile with a market share of 43.41%, ahead of Pannon with 34.52% and Vodafone in third with 22.07%.