10 years of the Crowley Group in Poland – interview with Jarosław Roszkowski, President of the Board

1. Are you satisfied with the CDP’s position on the Polish market after 10 years of its commercial operations?

We have maintained a high growth dynamics since launching our business operations in 2000. It has not been easy as the telecommunications market has been shrinking, mostly as a result of decreasing prices. In my opinion, only those enterprises which keep up on a technological and structural level with challenges posed by the market will survive. Crowley Data Poland is one of such companies. We proved it many times by achieving revenue increases even during an overall downturn in 2009. That is why we are really satisfied with the recognition and position on the market we have achieved. At the moment, we are restructuring CDP in depth. We intend to transform it into an enterprise capable of generating double-digit growth figures we noted just two years ago.

2. The telecommunications market in Poland is highly competitive and, in many cases, service portfolios offered there are similar. How can a company like CDP build the competitive advantage?

Most importantly, we are flexible; we precisely define and consistently perform our business objectives. We have a highly entrepreneurial, high-qualified and experienced team of specialists. We are not afraid of changes; we enter new areas of business operations. Many times, solutions used by our company boosted up development of the whole tele-IT sector. Crowley Data Poland is a forerunner in implementing LMDS and WIMAX technologies, SLA standards and VoIP telephone services. Also, we got recently involved in building optical fiber networks.

3. Public institutions are large share of CDP customer base. Their needs, however, are usually standard and price is a major factor. How profitable is cooperation with this market sector?

Our success is mostly based on the effect of scale. For example, the contract for providing tele-IT services to a municipality exceeding one million citizens translates into monthly subscription fees worth of about a quarter of a million zloty. Moreover, there is a steady demand in the public sector for state-of-the-art telecommunication services, mostly because of public institutions search for savings and, also, there are service shortages in this area.

Participation in public tenders usually brings more than just money. It gives an opportunity to measure up with competitors. As price is a factor, it is an excellent test on competitiveness for the companies because they must find a right balance between efficiency and profitability to win the public procurement.

4. Will the EU grants help to considerably accelerate development of telecommunication services in Poland? Has CDP participated in such projects?

The EU grants provide basis for improving telecommunication infrastructure in Poland, thus, facilitating a rapid development of such enterprises as CDP. From the beginning, our company has been actively involved in the digital exclusion projects in Poland. Under infrastructural projects we are building a radio-access network in LMDS 28 MHz technology. The value of the project exceeds PLN 11,3m with over PLN 3,6m coming from the EU financing. An influx of financial means is not enough to improve situation in Poland. New technological possibilities involve employing new products and a better offer for customers.

5. The Grupa Crowley in Poland is also represented by Crowley Infrastructure Development Group (CIDG). Its operations are only partially related to the telecommunications market. What exactly is CIDG’s core business?

All CIDG ventures involve innovative technologies and infrastructure projects. In American specialist literature these solutions, due to their nature, are referred to as disruptive innovations. This is a very complex area of activity as it is often related to interfering with environment restricted to the public administration or markets long-occupied by the same operators. The company’s major focus is on power, telecommunication and infrastructural sectors. CIDG consults and manages a full range of business processes from identifying the problem and issuing preliminary analyses, designing the business model, organizing financing, designing and carrying out the investment process, including operational management. In scope of the energy sector, we offer assistance in shaping an overall regulatory system for nuclear energy. It is impossible to efficiently carry out the public tender for a nuclear power plant and ensure required quality standards without such a legal environment. As far as the transportation industry is concerned, we mainly focus on airports and aviation industry. Currently, we are developing many key projects for Poland, such as the strategy for the Polish Airports or the first Master Plan for the airport in Warsaw; we also won a tender for the Master Plan update for the Kraków Airport. Last but not least, CIDG participates in telecommunication projects. Based on CDP know-how, we started to deal with deploying optical fiber networks. So far, our four investment applications covering the sum exceeding PLN 20m have been initially approved. In the near future, we intend to increase our involvement to PLN 200m.

6. Which one of CIDG projects was of utmost importance for the company?

The majority of our projects had a considerable impact on the company’s development and the way of thinking about business in Poland. Let me give you an example characteristic of our commercial operations and involving the use of this „disruptive innovation”. CIDG pioneered in establishing municipal telecommunication networks. Our solutions convinced local administration to go for reliable technologies rather than invest in makeshift, cheaper solutions incapable of building a telecommunication system. Such inexpensive solutions are unfit for the life-guard, management, or administration systems as well as for any other professional public systems. CIDG, in course of talks with the Ministry of Infrastructure and in cooperation with the National Institute of Telecommunications insisted on promoting the standard of minimum technological requirements. Dispersed elements of infrastructure should be compatible to make up one national system.

7. Both CDP and CIDG invested under the PPP projects. What is opinion about this kind of investments?

We think PPP is an ideal solution for modernizing and extending Polish infrastructure. Thanks to this, impossible things become possible. CIDG operates based on the American Chamber of Commerce and their vast experience in scope of PPP. The project of revitalizing Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw was completed according to an American model of Master Developer. So far, Master Developer and PPP formulas have created new opportunities for Poland upon constructing airports, roads, high ways as well as infrastructure and telecommunication solutions.

8. CIDG, among its competences, lists innovative solutions aimed at reducing CO2 emission levels. Poland has just negotiated an extension of transitory period to comply with IED Directive and made sure that newly created power plants are granted free-of-charge CO2 emission levels. Given the above, do you think there will be demand for your services?

The power sector is vitally interested in this solution because this branch of industry is under a heavy pressure to lower the emission levels in coal-based environment. In fact, emission reductions result from increasing the power plant efficiency. CIDG has the technology fit for monitoring and managing efficiency of coal-based power plants so that the emission levels and fuel consumption get decreased. We have been very successful in implementing them in Dolna Odra power plants. We have offered our solutions to PGE Corporation.