The Telekom Austria Group has decided to print its Sustainability Report 2007/2008 on surplus and waste billboard paper. Why? Obviously, on the one hand reusing superfluous advertising material can (and should) be understood symbolically. But above and beyond this, this decision embodies our understanding of just how important sustainability really is and un­derlines two fundamentally crucial as­pects of sustainable action: using re­sources carefully and avoiding or re­cy­cling surplus materials.

The strategic focus of the Telekom Austria Group is to achieve a steady increase in shareholder value, with an even balance between growth projects and shareholder remuneration. In our pursuit of these business goals, we are committed to sustainable growth and progress reflected in sensible, responsible company manage­ment which benefits both indivi­duals and society.

With its focus on eastern and southeast European mobile communications markets, the purpose of our strategy of internatio­nali­zation is not to expand at any price: we target value-oriented growth while at the same time taking into conside­ration regional and social circum­stances. In the sphere of business, our industry faces dynamic and challenging developments in Europe such as rapid technological change and shorter lifecycles for infrastructure, and the products and services such change engenders. At the same time, prices and margins are coming under pressure from high levels of market saturation and penetration rates, intense competition and regulatory requirements. The Telekom Austria Group is countering these trends with horizontal growth and with innovations which expand the portfolio along the value creation chain. In the fixed line business customer-focused products such as aonTV and aonAlarmServices are making fixed access lines more attractive. Usage in the mobile communications business is in­crea­sed through innovative data servi­ces.

Faced with these challenges, strict ma­nage­ment of costs and process effi­ciency are necessary to adapt to the new market conditions. This includes openly addressing the issue of the reduced staffing needs in the Fixed Net segment, due to the use of modern network techno­logies which re­quire less main­tenance. On the surface, this topic might appear to be somewhat out of place in a Sustainability Report in which the Telekom Austria Group underlines its role as a good corporate citizen that re­gards actively fulfilling its social respon­sibility and treating employees fairly as a key element of its cor­porate culture. Ultimately, how­ever, ensuring the eco­no­mic efficiency and business viability of our operations is the key to building a strong foundation upon which we are able to fulfill our social and ecological commitments.