VILNIUS - Bite Lietuva, Lithuania's mobile phone operator, has unveiled plans to invest 1 billion litas (290 million euros) in the development of a third generation mobile-communications network over the next 10 years.
Maarten van Engeland, CEO of the Bite Group, which is owned by Denmark's TDC, said on Feb. 22 that the operator was planning to launch 3G services in Lithuania this April, and in Latvia two months later. "3G services will be introduced in five Lithuanian cities and towns, and by autumn, will be made available in more than 20 towns across the country," Engeland said.
He added that, depending on demand, the company would extend its 3G network to cover up to 40 cities and towns.
As part of its 3G service expansion, Bite also intends to launch a new Bite Plus portal, allowing users to watch 20 global TV channels live, with archive access to local TV programs, among other services. The company also plans to offer video-calls for its customers as a standard 3G feature.
The operator forecasts that more than half of the Lithuanian population will have access to 3G services by the end of this year.
Bite Lietuva posted revenue of 523 million litas for 2005, a rise of 21 percent from 431 million litas in 2004.
Lithuania's Bite, which is composed of Bite Lietuva and the Latvian unit Bite Latvija, reported 520.5 million litas in revenues for full 2005, a rise of 21.4 percent from the year-earlier figure of 428.9 million litas. In the fourth quarter alone, the group posted 139.7 million litas in revenues, 0.7 percent lower compared with the July-to-September period of 2005, TDC said in its 2005 report.
Meanwhile, Bite Latvia, the Latvia-based mobile operator controlled by Bite Lietuva, reported 2.76 million litas in turnover for 2005 as its number of active subscribers rose to 55,000 by the end of the year.
"We have set up a network in a record short period - from June to September, and are currently rendering the full range of services to our private customers in Latvia," Engeland said.
Bite Latvia's network covered 16 key cities as of late 2005, and was being expanded actively, he added.
