EBJ: “Please introduce your company and your products and services in brief to someone who does not know your company.”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “Altibox is a premium supplier and the market leader in fibre-based telecommunications & media services in the Norwegian telecommunications market. This year, Altibox again won the independent national Customer Satisfaction Index conducted by EPSI for TV and broadband services. Since our foundation in 2002, we have grown our customer base from zero to 320.000 households. Now, we hold 18% market share in broadband services and 13% market share in TV services.”
EBJ: “Are there any recent novelties?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “We just signed a contract with Cisco for the development and delivery of a next generation network equipment, services, network operation & management systems, based on cutting edge concepts and technology. This goes together with 1GB symmetrical capacity as standard for the end customers and many new possibilities in terms of service quality. Furthermore, we are working on a next generation TV solution which we believe will set new standards in the industry, both in terms of delivery OTT and STBs. The first deliveries will probably come late this year, followed by several releases in 2014.”
“Since our foundation, we have been delivering cutting edge technology solutions vand we will continue to do so in the future.” Dr. Nils Arne Bakke
EBJ: “What are your USPs? What distinguishes you from your competitors?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “Everything we deliver has been based on fibre and IP since our very beginnings. Given that also LTE and future mobile networks are 100% IP, we are now in a position to supply our services everywhere and with the best quality possible. We have a 75% market share in the FTTH sector and the largest fibre network in Norway. This is a very interesting position as the whole world goes IP and network capacity is becoming a scarce resource.”
EBJ: “Who and where are your clients? How do you reach them?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “Our clients form the best customer base in the world. The households are characterized by above average income, internet & TV consumption and internet-ready devices. They are located all over Norway. We always sell customer contracts before building new infrastructure. This way, we ensure around 60% customer penetration. Until today, we hardly had any churn. All in all, the churn is approximately 3,7%.”
EBJ: “The euro-debt-crisis is omnipresent – did your company feel the effects?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “Not at all. Norway was the least affected economy in Europe.”
EBJ: “Do you want to say anything about the current economic policy in Europe?”
Dr.Nils Arne Bakke: “I am worried about the high sovereign debt levels and a weak finance sector in Europe. This combination makes it difficult to realize new growth.”
EBJ: “Sustainability – only a slogan or a reality for you?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “We are planning and acting long term oriented. We invest in and build infrastructure that will be essential to any modern sustainable economy.”
“Many companies in our market fail because they do not acknowledge changes in their environment.” Dr. Nils Arne Bakke
EBJ: “Where do you see your company in one year? What do you expect? What do you wish for?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “I expect that we will grow with another 40,000 FTTH customers and that we will substantially increase our market share in the Norwegian telecommunications market. We aim at increased profitability and increased customer satisfaction. Hopefully, we will also be considered more innovative thanks to our new products and services.”
EBJ: “Do you have any words of wisdom out of your experience as an entrepreneur?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “The key to success is to focus on the few important things that really create value for the customer and at the same time not to forget about everything else. The best companies of the world are never perfect in every respect, but they are extremely good in what is important in their respective markets. Thus, passion for excellence where it makes a difference combined with the ability to live with the imperfect in every other respect is the key to success. If you try to be perfect in every detail you can be sure that you waste substantial amounts of both intellectual resources and capital. I really liked Steve Jobs’ idea of being proud of the projects and initiatives you kill, because they create space for the few projects and initiatives that make success possible.”
EBJ: “Is there anything else which we have not addressed so far that you would like to be included in the article?”
Dr. Nils Arne Bakke: “Altibox is a company that has been delivering cutting edge technology solutions for a decade now. We will continue to do that in the next decade, too. Every day we will try to make technology more relevant and to create real value for our customers. At the end of the day, we have to be extremely open-minded and make decisions very quickly. Our goal is to stay competitive with a long-term perspective. We should remember and live by Nietsche’s famous statement: “Convictions are more dangerous enemies of the truth than lies.” Most companies that failed in our industry did so because of their inability to acknowledge major changes in their environment.”
