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Sonny Portelli, GO Group Chairman talks about the re-branding of malta’s major telecommunications company
Sitting in his office at the group’s head office in Marsa, GO Chairman Sonny Portelli is certainly a man out on a mission to transform a company, which is now totally part of the private sector. He insists first hand that this change is not only cultural but also operational and although much has been done in the past year, there still remains a lot to do if one is to achieve the transformation required to be successful in today’s fiercely competitive telecommunications market.
 But why the change of name from Maltacom to GO?
“The name ‘Maltacom’ was reflecting a company which today has changed completely. The name reflected a private shareholding of 40 per cent and 60 per cent owned by the government and now it is completely privatized.
The Company has also the varied the type and range of services it provides.
Before it was mainly a provider of fixed line services and mobile services. Now, we are in four different markets, fixed line, mobile, broadband and television although I suspect that over the medium term we shall be less dependent on fixed line revenue due to gradual fading out. Today, we are not a monopoly anymore so we have to fight aggressively for market share.
Success in this initiative requires a company that is focussed on its tasks, has a clear vision of its objectives, and is in tune with the expectations of its clients. I believe we have become such a company. We have rejuvenated ourselves; we have improved and increased our product offerings, and have increased our customer centricity. Our new brand name GO reflects all of these matters.
But how did the brand name of ‘GO’ come about?
“We went to international brand consultants. They carried out intensive research with Maltese and Gozitan clients and after they made their presentations to the board, it was concluded that ‘GO’ is a brand, which has a tremendous amount of recognition.
In Malta (and Gozo) GO is synonymous with success. GO Mobile came out of nowhere, took on a global player and very quickly acquired half the Maltese market for mobile telephony. We were advised to retain GO, as its local pull is undoubted. We have also been convinced of its attraction internationally
But what will this new setup bring to the group’s client base?
“All we have done so far is change our image, our logo, our uniform, so to speak. Now comes the most important phase of the transformation:, the change in mentality,; it will bring in its wake a total dedication to the client which in turn will act as a magnet which will retain current clients, and as an attraction to new ones.
This company is shedding that part of its culture, which was a legacy from its “statal’ past, and morphing into an enterprise driven entirely by the constant need to deliver a healthy bottom line, which can only happen if the clients are happy with our delivery.
Our delivery will be in the form of bundles of services, which will be customised to specific customer requirements, delivered and serviced by joined up, or rather, a converged organisation, totally dedicated to the client.
So, as you can see: it is all about customer service, it is all about reliability, and most importantly it is all about competitiveness. It’s a tall order, but we are determined to deliver all of it.
Why was GO Mobile retained as a separate company within the group?
“GO Mobile is a young company which is only six years old and notwithstanding its short life, its rate of success has been considerable and today it is one of the main revenue generators of the group.
Our maxim is ‘if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it’ so where GO Mobile has achieved success on its own, we don’t need to change that much. We are changing the way we offer certain services, such as fixed line only because these need to be changed to reflect today’s market realities. So mobile services do not need to be brought under the same umbrella, as there is no compelling argument for this to be done.
GO is working fine on its own and so far, no one has told us that they want their mobile bill on the same paper with their fixed line bill. There are obviously synergies between companies regarding legal operations, sponsorships and suchlike, but the GO Mobile product is still not required to operate together with our other services as it requires special attention”.
We then moved to the television sphere with GO’s recent acquisition of Multiplus having been a success story from day one especially with the doubling of subscribers in the space of just a few months. What are the next steps with the service now under a new brand name?
“In television we have not even started walking but our plans for this sector are pretty big as we have formulated a number of extensive strategies to become market leaders in this sector which is growing substantially and offers us substantial potential. We have to improve our content, and we also have to improve accessibility in terms of reception apart.
However, I will reiterate our philosophy: digital television will be one of the main core areas of the group, in terms of content, regardless of the platform, be it mobile, or traditional television”.
We move back to the group’s operations and I ask Portelli which elements remain rooted in public service philosophy and how long will it take to effectively change these?
“We are nearly there and one only has to observe how much we have changed in a year. It is not so important to have a strategy for change as this would be useless if the company’s employees do not accept this change. I can tell you that two weeks ago, together with the Chief Executive, I spoke to all our employees. When we explained to them the reason for the change in the brand name, the vast majority of our employees were relieved at this change as their bottom line is that they want this company to grow, as only through this growth will their employment be guaranteed”.
I then asked the thorny question regarding staff levels, which at around 1400 employees remain pretty high when compared with the competition out there.
“One must not forget that our competitors offer less services than we do and if we are continuing to make profits then I am not worried. Apart from that, I have not been told that there are any employees that are surplus to our requirements. We recently offered a voluntary retirement scheme. Around 200 employees decided to take up our offer. We also have a new scheme, which is ongoing and should be concluded by the end of September. After this exercise, we will take another look at staff levels but you have to keep in mind that we still require persons who climb up ladders to service our fix line networks, together with other labour intensive services.
I can also tell you that we don’t have any surplus staff in the mobile or internet sectors and we need to increase our staff in the television sector, most definitely”.
Portelli has been on the record as stating, repeatedly, that he never feared, or will ever fear competition. Is this still the case after the re-branding exercise?
“Competition never worried me before, and it will certainly not worry me now after re-branding.
After four years of chairing the board of the company, I am still amazed with the excellent quality of our people. A case in point is our new soft switches (exchanges). What we were offered is vastly different to what we eventually purchased, and so much was changed and improved. It is a source of great pride for me that all the developments and changes in the equipment offered to us were the result of our people’s inputs. Our people are the best in the business locally, and can probably give as good an account of themselves internationally. Hence my conviction that we have a winning team.
A final comment?
“It is an uphill road from now on, firstly: due to the fact that we are no longer a monopoly, and in the second place,, because we will have to sustain the effects of the drop in roaming revenues.
Additionally fixed line revenue is steadily diminishing as a source of revenues.
In order to counteract these realities, we are also looking at our business processes to ensure improved efficiencies. We are also increasing (with our people’s agreement) our productivity, thereby increasing our availability for our clients.
We are also increasing company working hours for employees to improve the services that we offer to clients especially in summer where our outlets used to be open only on half days. We have been in good shape, I believe we are in even better shape now. I can assure you that we are determined to continue delivering the best to our clients and to our shareholders. I would hate to have to compete with us, or rather to have to go after GO. |
