Press Releases

ONI and TELECEL signed a Co-operation Agreement through which they will both reinforce their global and integrated offer of services by utilising their unique characteristics.

This Co-operation Agreement between ONI and TELECEL will enable the provision of integrated telecom services. Whenever the two companies have complementary offers each company will provide the services of the other, namely TELECEL GSM Service and ONI Data Services.

ONI and TELECEL have agreed the basis for a co-operation that will exploit synergies at the different levels of the value chain of the telecoms businesses.

Thus, ONI and TELECEL will strengthen their positions in the market for integrated services whilst achieving cost savings through resource rationalisation and investment optimisation.

The Co-operation Agreement encompasses, among other things:

The cross-selling of products and services;

The development of a joint offer of solutions for business Customers with sophisticated needs, providing a one-stop shopping service;

Direct connection between ONI‘s and TELECEL‘s call centres in order to create an integrated one-stop Customer care service;

The development of a common set of innovative services (e.g. unified messaging, voice recognition, e-commerce), convergent fixed-mobile GSM services and the joint study of new technologies;

The acquisition, development and maintenance of IT projects, licences and systems, facilitated by the high compatibility of each company’s systems;

The optimisation of the transport and interconnection network usage;

The joint planning of the location of equipment, switches, antennas and the joint management of some network activities.

Furthermore, the Co-operation Agreement includes the study of the creation of a company to develop and produce Internet content and portals.

The development of several initiatives with the goal to create an infrastructure and to establish a public telecommunications network.

ONI and TELECEL are positive that the agreement will result in the increased usage of the services of both companies, based on their stronger ability to satisfy the global telecommunications needs of the Customers. It will also lead to the reduction of operating expenses through resource sharing and joint acquisition of products and services. Furthermore, it wills optimise financial resources by sharing the investment and development costs inherent to the build up of a telecommunications operator’s core competencies.

Each operator will continue to compete in the marketplace, namely in Fixed Telephony Service – through Direct and Indirect Access.
António Pita de Abreu, ONI ‘s President, said “This Co-operation Agreement with TELECEL will allow the enlargement of ONI’s services portfolio and the swifter deployment of new technological platforms, accelerating the introduction of innovative infocommunications services in Portugal”.

TELECEL‘s President, António Carrapatoso, considers that This Co-operation with ONI is an excellent way for TELECEL to cement its competitive position in the Portuguese telecommunications market and enhance value for its Customers and Shareholders. This co-operation will also contribute to the development of the Telecommunications sector and the information society”.

ONI is the only infrastructure based integrated Wireline, Voice and Data operator among the new entrants to the Portuguese market. It is owned by EDP (Electricity Company, 95%) and by GDP (Gas Company, 5%).

TELECEL is a leading private telecommunications operator, 50.9% owned by Vodafone AirTouch plc, which explores the Wireless, Internet and Indirect Fixed Access businesses in Portugal.