ATHENS: The Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. (OTE S.A.), the largest telecom operator in Greece, said on Monday that it is planning to spin off its mobile towers business into a separate entity, as part of its strategy to boost its value and performance.

The company, which operates under the COSMOTE brand, said that it has already successfully spun off its customer service, retail and technical services units into three different subsidiaries, namely COSMOTE E-VALUE Group, GERMANOS and COSMOTE TECHNICAL SERVICES.

The proposed spin-off of the mobile towers business, which is subject to the approval of the company’s board and shareholders, aims to improve the utilization and transparency of the asset, which comprises of about 5,000 towers across Greece. The company said that the spin-off will not affect its consolidated financial results.

In addition, OTE S.A. announced that it is exploring ways to optimize its pay-tv operations, which have been facing increasing competition and costs. The company said that it is looking for alternatives and possibilities to reduce its expenses and improve its profitability in the pay-tv segment.

The company said that it will provide more details to the capital markets once the relevant decisions are made.

The Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, also known as OTE, is the largest technology company in Greece. It provides fixed-line and mobile telephony, broadband services, pay television and integrated ICT solutions. It is one of the three largest companies listed in the Athens Stock Exchange, according to market capitalization. It is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. OTE also operates in other Balkan countries, such as Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.