Vienna, 14 February 2017

• Elisabetta Castiglioni CEO of the new subsidiary A1 digital
• A1 digital is a partner that supports customers in the process of digitalising their business
• International focus on the European market
• Growth rates of more than 30% show the need to make digitalisation a key strategic topic
• Telekom Austria Group has many years of expertise in M2M/IoT communication

"With Elisabetta Castiglioni we have gained a top manager who has a wealth of international experience and a proven track record in the telecommunications and technology industry. With her experience in growing new business areas and her deep knowledge of how global companies act, Elisabetta is the ideal candidate to drive the paradigm shift away from our traditional core business toward digitalisation," said Alejandro Plater, CEO Telekom Austria Group, about CEO Elisabetta Castiglioni's new responsibilities.

The digital revolution has already begun and is an enormous driver of innovation which is impacting and changing every area of life. As a leading communications provider in Austria and CEE, the Telekom Austria Group has in the past responded to the opportunities this presents with international experts and an excellent network infrastructure. From now on, the company is repositioning itself and presenting its new subsidiary A1 digital international GmbH. With Elisabetta Castiglioni as its CEO and a new team, the company will be offering custom-tailored products and services in the area of digitalisation.

"With our new subsidiary we are ideally positioned to offer our customers the support they need to digitalise their business. The widespread use of digital technologies is leading to massive changes in many industries. With the tailored products and services provided by A1 digital, customers can use these opportunities to improve their position on the market", said Alejandro Plater, talking about the new possibilities created by digitalisation.

Digital and international

The new company will focus on the B2B market and offer digital services to actively support companies in the digitalisation process with the goal of enhancing their success in their field of business. A1 digital will initially focus on two areas: Solutions in IoT (Internet of Things), which will be constantly expanded, and cloud-based ICT solutions which build on existing data centre capacities in Austria and the Telekom Austria Group's other markets.

Internationally, the focus will be on Europe and will include the Group's existing markets in CEE as well as new markets in Western Europe, in particular Germany. The business in Germany will in future be managed by a separate company based in Munich.

A1 digital as a partner for the digital transformation of companies

Forecasts are predicting growth rates of around at least 30% in the Cloud business alone and are predicting that revenues in the small and medium-sized enterprise segment will total approximately EUR 15 bn. in the period up to 2020 in the CEE area and Germany. A1 digital is positioning itself as a digitalisation partner mostly for small and medium-sized companies and with its expertise and services is showing the way into a digital future. Some three million small and medium-sized companies in Germany and the countries in which the Group has operated up to now can exploit the potential of digitalisation.

The Telekom Austria Group already hit the headlines last year with a successful digitalisation project. In spring 2016 the company announced the biggest telematics project in Austria, namely the digitalisation of construction equipment and construction machinery belonging to PORR AG. Using industry-specific asset-tracking solutions and comprehensive support systems PORR AG was able to achieve lasting cost-savings.

Digitalisation as a core strategic topic

"Digitalisation offers huge opportunities and possibilities and we as A1 digital can offer products and services that support our customers in precisely this area and help them to generate the greatest possible benefit", said Elisabetta Castiglioni, CEO A1 digital discussing the new business area. "Digitalisation will change traditional business models, ushering in structural change. Digitalisation will thus become a key strategic issue.

To become the leading regional player for cloud-based ICT services and IoT services is the goal

According to a 2016 Gartner study 60-70% of Cloud services are sourced through regional providers. To satisfy customer demands, the Telekom Austria Group is investing some EUR 30 mn. in new data centre capacities in Austria alone with additional investments in other data centres in the Group. Professional support and maximum security in compliance with international standards make the Group a key regional player. Data security is becoming increasingly important and European companies - especially Austrian and German companies - are very sensitive about this topic.

International and local

A1 digital operates from Vienna in both the local and international markets. "We are not constrained by national borders, because our services and customers are not limited to any borders", said Elisabetta Castiglioni, "and from our base in Vienna we will be digitalising both the Austrian and other regional markets".

"This is another demonstration of the commitment of our owner América Móvil to Vienna as our headquarters and as a business location", said Alejandro Plater about this move to strengthen Austria as a business location.