Vera, a Catalan telecommunications operator born from the merger of the local operators Goufone, Iguana and Soom, wants to make the leap beyond the central regions in which it was born and extend to all of Catalonia, for which it is preparing an investment of 60 million euros, as explained by its CEO, Marc Mundó.
With headquarters in Gurb and offices in Igualada, Manresa and Mataró, the three operators were created in 2010 to solve connectivity problems in small towns in the municipalities of Osona, Bages and Anoia, in central Catalonia. In 2014 they began to deploy fiber, and Vera already has a network of 4,000 kilometers of its own fiber in 15 counties, in which they have invested 40 million euros, mainly financed by the reinvestment of their own profit.
“The shareholders are the engineers who founded the companies, not investors, and we would like to continue like this,” says Mundó. Vera, in addition, has not had access to community aid for rural internet because “they force them to have coverage at the provincial level”, although he hopes to be able to opt for them now with the new impetus for his growth.
Vera billed 30 million euros last year, with 180 workers, and had an operating profit or ebitda of 7.5 million. The operator grows at a rate of more than 20% per year and expects to close this year with 40 million revenues and 10 million in ebitda, of which 6 will be allocated to network deployment and the rest to commercial action and debt service. which stands at 18 million euros, after obtaining a new loan to finance its expansion plan.
“We deploy 100 kilometers of fiber per month,” says Mundó. The group’s network already has access to connect 450,000 properties and expects to reach two million properties by 2027. “Until now we have grown mainly through word of mouth: 42% of our clients come for a friend or family member” says Mundo. Its own regional environment, it acknowledges, made it difficult to carry out advertising actions, and the company has focused on providing quality fiber connection, reasonable prices and local customer service, with a call center where half of its staff work.
However, Vera has now started a plan to increase its commercial action. The firm, explains Mundó, already has seven of its own stores and plans to open others in the region capitals where it has more presence. “Our offices are more customer service than commercial and we want to open more, where they can provide a scalable and profitable service,” she says.
