GROUP MANAGE- MENT REPORT Group management report GRUPO MANAGEMENT REPORT 37 Business model and organisation 38 Corporate stra tegy and goals 41 Corporate management 42 Report on economic position 48 Report on opportunities and risks 58 Report on expected developments 71 Report on post-balance sheet date events 73 Non-financial statement 74 Corporate governance 90 38 G ROUP MANagEMENT REPOrt | Business model and organisation GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT BUSINESS MODEL AND ORGANISATION ■ Digital lifestyle provider with a customer base of approximately 8.4 million subscribers ■ Long-term customer contracts with constant value added generate stability and predictability Group management report ■ IPTV as growth driver OVERVIEW OF THE FREENET GROUP The freenet Group conducts its core business activities in two operating segments, Mobile Communications and TV As a digital lifestyle provider, the freenet Group offers its and Media; both are described below. In addition, the Other/ approximately 8.4 million subscribers innovative products Holding segment comprises other activities, which are only for life on the go. The Group’s operating activities are lim- of minor importance for the purpose of assessing the compa- ited mainly to private customers and to the German market. ny’s net assets, financial position and results of operations. freenet AG, the parent company of the freenet Group, is a The segments are divided by product and not by customer listed German public limited company (Aktiengesellschaft – segment or geographical areas in line with the structure of AG) with its registered office in Büdelsdorf and administra- the internal management system. tive headquarters in Hamburg. The company’s financial year is the calendar year (1 January to 31 December). Effective 1 January 2019, the entities The Cloud Networks Germany GmbH, Munich, and The Cloud Networks N ordic As of 31 December 2019, there were five Executive Board AB, Stockholm, Sweden, were included in the Mobile departments: Communications segment. The freenet Group also divested its majority interest (51 per cent) in Troisdorf-based MOTION TM Vertriebs GmbH in December 2019. The shares E xecutive Board Member Department were sold back to the previous shareholders. The main Group Christoph Vilanek Chief Executive Officer (CEO) companies as of 31 December 2019, measured in terms of Ingo Arnold Chief Financial Officer (CFO) their contribution to the financial performance indicators Stephan Esch Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of the Group, are set out as follows: Chief Customer Experience Antonius Fromme Officer (CCE) Chief Commercial Officer Rickmann v. Platen (CCO) freenet AG | Annual Report 2019 G ROUP MANagEMENT REPOrt | Business model and organisation 39 F igure 5: Material Group companies of freenet AG as of 31 December 2019 freenet AG freenet.de mobilcom-debitel mobilcom-debitel freenet Cityline Sunrise Communi- EXARING AG GmbH GmbH Logistik GmbH GmbH cations Group AG . SUBSIDIARIES SUBSIDIARIES Group management report Gravis The Cloud freenet Daten- callmobile mobilcom-debitel klarmobil Media Broadcast Computervertriebs- Networks kommunikations freenet digital GmbH Shop GmbH GmbH GmbH gesellschaft mbH Germany GmbH GmbH GmbH MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS SEGMENT risk. Instead, the Group mainly applies a reselling model in which mobile customer data is not transferred to the net- The freenet Group’s core business is mobile communica- work operator, but instead remains with the freenet Group tions. Its products and services include mobile telecommu- (service provider model). This creates a direct relationship nications and mobile internet products, services and hard- with customers, enabling the freenet Group to also provide ware. This portfolio is also being expanded to encompass a all downstream customer services (e.g. customer manage- diverse range of digital lifestyle products and services. For ment, billing, marketing, etc.) and to also offer the possibil- the freenet Group these include mobile phone accessories, ity of generating further business from customers through home entertainment (music and video offerings) and all ser- cross-selling and up-selling. vices, applications and devices that are connected to the internet or controllable by a mobile end device (e.g. smart Another unique selling proposition of the freenet Group on home or WiFi services). the German market is the fact that its mobile tariff portfo- lio includes the original tariffs of the three German network In providing mobile communications services, the freenet operators – Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica Deutsch- Group follows a business model unique in Germany without land – as well as its own tariffs. The tariffs are marketed a mobile network of its own. Unlike mobile network opera- using a multi-brand strategy, i.e. including its own discount tors (MNOs), the Group is able to do business without oper- and premium brands, allowing the freenet Group to meet ating an expensive and capital-intensive mobile network. the needs of nearly every customer group. These tariffs are Compared to other competitors, the freenet Group does not sold both online and/or offline via an extensive network of acquire any (network) capacity (mobile virtual network oper- branches depending on the brand strategy. Under its main ator or MVNO model) from an MNO, thus avoiding resale brand mobilcom-debitel, the freenet Group operates both Annual Report 2019 | freenet AG 40 G ROUP MANagEMENT REPOrt | Business model and organisation an online shop and a chain of high-street branches consist- The business model of EXARING AG is also based on the ing of more than 560 stores. mobilcom-debitel also holds transmission of TV content from public and private broad- exclusive marketing rights for mobile communication ser- casters. The company broadcasts and sells video content vices on the Telekom and Vodafone networks in more than via internet-based technology (IPTV) with an innovative 430 electronics stores operated by Media-Saturn-Deutsch- app and exclusive access to a modern fibre-optic network land GmbH (Media Markt and Saturn). in Germany stretching over 13,000 km. The IPTV product is purchased and marketed to private users in a subscrip- tion model via the freenet Group’s distribution channels, TV AND MEDIA SEGMENT among others. EXARING AG supplements its business with private customers with an offering for business users includ- The freenet Group has been active in the TV and Media seg- ing addressable TV and web-to-TV services. ment via Media Broadcast GmbH (Cologne) and a majority holding in EXARING AG (Munich) since 2016. Media Broad- Fast, stable transmission to smartphones, tablets, laptops or cast GmbH designs, sets up and operates multimedia broad- home televisions combined with exceptional picture quality cast infrastructure for TV and radio based on digital trans- and an intuitive user interface has enabled waipu.tv to gain a mitter technology. Media Broadcast GmbH, and thus the notable position in the growing German IPTV market within freenet Group, is the sole provider of digital antenna TV just a few years. The TV and Media segment’s p roducts (DVB-T2 HD) in the German market. The Group distributes round out the Mobile Communications segment’s digital TV content from public and private broadcasters to private lifestyle products and services. The freenet Group’s busi- Group management report end customers via the freenet TV brand. ness model and value chain can be summarised as follows: F igure 6: Customer-focused value creation and business model Multichannel Customer Precursor Packaging Customer distribution management Telecommunications Pricing Own sales channels Customer billing Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, mobilcom-debitel, GRAVIS, Telefónica, United Internet Marketing Online Customer service Hardware Branding Third-party sales Customer development manufacturers channels Apple, Samsung, Huawai, etc. Partner management Specialist retailers, consumer Customer retention electronics stores, franchises Digital lifestyle Artificial intelligence Apps, services, hardware CRM Energy suppliers TV/Radio programs Own infrastructure Antennas, networks freenet AG | Annual Report 2019 G ROUP MANagEMENT REPOrt | Corporate stra tegy and goals 41 GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT CORPORATE STRA TEGY AND GOALS The freenet Group’s vision is “Always the Right Choice”. FOCUS ON LONG-TERM CUSTOMER Service quality and lasting customer satisfaction and loyalty RELATIONSHIPS IN THE TV AND MEDIA are therefore vitally important. As service quality is consid- SEGMENT ered to be a strategic asset in the freenet Group, the com- Group management report pany has spent years intensifying its focus on improving the To ensure further value-oriented organic growth, the Group customer experience and established a separate Executive transferred its existing sales strength, service orientation and Board department for these activities in 2018. long-standing experience in subscription business to the rela- tively new TV and Media segment. Marketing the subscription services – freenet TV and waipu.tv – also serves the purpose CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS MORE THAN JUST of establishing profitable long-term customer relationships. MEETING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS The resulting business potential will primarily be put to stra- tegic use by means of direct customer contact to ensure the The goal is to improve customer experience by sustainably steady and stable development of the freenet Group’s operat- designing and linking various individual customer-facing ini- ing