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MESSAGE FROM
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Ten years of building value!
This year, CYTA’s
review is notably different from previous ones in that it not only involves
looking back over the previous twelve-month period but takes in an entire
decade.
In 1996 we planned and
subsequently worked on realising the vision that would represent our life ten
years later: prosperity for CYTA and Cyprus. What would Cyprus be like in the
new millennium, what goals would it be seeking to achieve and how would it
realise them? How would CYTA respond to the dynamic new challenges in an
environment where old boundaries had been shattered and the only protection for
a nation or an enterprise would emanate not from legislation but from the
ability to produce value?
CYTA’s tradition
predicted the course of the next decade with unforgiving accuracy. CYTA would
continue to be the undisputed leader. Not because it would be the sole provider
of electronic communications services in Cyprus but because it would stand out
in an arena packed with players. In any case, long before liberalisation, a key
factor for our Organisation was not the likely competition but its own ability
to stay in touch with the life and needs of the people of Cyprus.
In 1996 we proceeded
with determination to shatter the stereotype of the "semi-government"
organisation that was without concerns such as "research",
"competitiveness",
"profitability",
"learning",
"innovation",
"quality"
and "caring".
In 1996 we broke down our inward-looking habit and started viewing our
subscribers as partners.
This was when we
recognised that in a society characterised by knowledge, globalisation and
mobility, people needed the freedom to discover and communicate with their world
anywhere and at any time.
And it was then that we
switched our focus from products to solutions. Then we faced our new self, one
with new capabilities. This is why we transformed our Organisation into one of
learning and research. And then we clearly saw our future. That is why our
strength no longer lies in our autonomy but in our ability to forge strategic
alliances.
The realisation of our
strategy to transform CYTA into a provider of total solutions required alliances
with companies that were leaders in specialist sectors such as mobile telephony,
content and entertainment, and technological solutions and systems.
During the decade that
ended in 2006, we achieved a great deal according to our main judges: our
partners/customers - all of
our country’s people and its visitors. We could have achieved even more had
circumstances permitted. We, CYTA’s two and a half thousand people, feel pride
in our successes of the past and optimism about the bright prospects that our
determined efforts are predicting for the next decade. At the same time, we are
concerned about the developing conditions in the regulatory environment and the
lack of progress surrounding the status of our Organisation.
Back to the Future
Total Electronic Communications...
Today’s Cypriot citizen is educated, demanding, progressive, extremely mobile
and with greater needs than ever. CYTA is the only provider in Cyprus that is in
a position to respond to the sum of these needs by providing Total Electronic
Communications solutions that can be summarised as these five key concepts:
Telecommunications, IT, Multimedia, Content, Information,
Entertainment and
Security.
This strategy, which we
have called TIMES, essentially requires the upgrading and expansion of the
strategy that we formulated and implemented during the previous decade with
CYTA’s various mainly autonomous networks, the only real difference being that
developments in technology mean that with a new architecture we can build the
New Generation Network - the one in which traditional networks converge, based
on the Internet Protocol. In the near future, the TIMES strategy will provide
the businesses and individuals that are partners in our Organisation with new,
innovative, converged fixed/mobile telephony and "triple
play" (voice-data-video)
services, and soon "quadruple
play" (converged
fixed/mobile with voice, data and video) services.
...For the
Individual
The mass consumer is no more present. Today we celebrate the individual. The next decade
will be characterised by the personalisation of mass provision. Our thinking
vis-à-vis our customers, transcends
advanced market research tools and demands
that we respond through the immediacy of our relationship.
We do not wish to become
merely customer-friendly, or even customer-oriented because in this way we are
actually distancing ourselves from our customers. We seek the familiarity that
determines a deeper, more immediate two-way relationship with them, where
authenticity, transparency and caring translate their need and/or problem into
an opportunity for mutual development.
And beyond our
Borders
Our leading position is not a result. It is a way of life. One does not
become a leader once; one becomes a leader every time - every minute, every day!
The leader creates value by truly caring, not from obligation.
From our rich history we
have gained valuable knowledge which breaks down conventional borders and places
us in the service of the international community. We have already taken our
first steps in the UK and Greece. CYTA can become Cyprus’ most important
ambassador abroad.
CYTA has a restless
spirit. CYTA is not content with mere survival but seeks development. This is
why it will continue to play a leading role in whatever economy it becomes
active in. It will continue to contribute to every society in which it
participates.
However much and
wherever CYTA expands, one thing is certain: it will always be a living part of
Cyprus because it belongs to the country’s people.
Nicos M Timotheou
Chief Executive Officer
July 2007
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