Deutsche Telekom

Telecoms market leader Cosmote is set to launch the modernization of its cellphone network next month, based on the new contract it has signed with Ericsson. Cosmote will also begin working on the creation of Greece's first fifth-generation (5G) network.

Greece's biggest telecoms operator OTE posted a 9.4 percent rise in fourth-quarter core profit on Wednesday thanks to growing business at its home market.

Originally from New York and now based in Thessaloniki, artist Barry Feldman presents a series of paintings titled "Living in the Greek Topos" which can be viewed in the display windows of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) building at 33 Karolou Ntil Street in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

While talks between the management and the unionists at OTE are resuming on Thursday, aiming at the signing of a new collective labor contract, it appears the Deutsche Telekom-owned group is entering a fresh period of shrinking both its staff and its operation costs.

The Greek government is waiting for the European Commission to publish its report on the development of fifth-generation cell telephony (5G) networks before deciding on a provider, Digital Governance Minister Kyriakos Pierakakis said on Thursday.

Members of anarchist group Rouvikonas sprayed slogans on the wall of the house of the chairman and chief executive officer of Greek telecoms operator OTE Michael Tsamaz in the northern suburb of Melissia, late Wednesday night.

One of the main issues for the government in 2020 will be claims for retroactive payments by millions of pensioners. The process will begin on January 10 with a hearing at the Council of State whose outcome is expected to affect claims worth billions of euros by 2.5 million retirees.

Cosmote is Greece's first mobile communications provider to prepare for the 5G era via a network upgrade contract it is to sign soon with Sweden's Ericsson.

The estimated €170 million contract, expected to be signed early January, includes both fourth- and fifth-generation equipment. It involves upgrading existing base stations and antennas across Greece as well as creating new ones.

The clash between the management of telecommunications giant OTE and its employees has reached boiling point: After the company decided not to refill eight security positions following dismissals, the workers' union called a strike for all working days from December 21 to January 12.

Fourteen years after a judicial inquiry was first launched, the trial into the 1997 Siemens bribery scandal concluded on Tuesday with an Athens court finding 22 of the original 64 defendants guilty of a range of crimes, including money laundering. The sentences are expected to be announced on Friday.