T-Mobile Austria aims to halt core earnings drop this year

VIENNA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - T-Mobile Austria expects to stabilise its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) this year and hopes to boost EBITDA in years ahead, Chief Executive Andreas Bierwirth said on Monday. Its EBITDA fell by a fifth last year to 192 million euros($2481 million). The Deutsche Telekom unit said it expects new rivals on the mobile market to emerge in January. Hutchison Whampoa unit Drei Austria has to offer wholesale access to its network to up to 16 so-called MVNO carriers as a condition for buying Orange Austria last year as a remedy to stimulate competition and keep consumer prices low. T-Mobile Austria aims to keep its market share steady at nearly 30 percent and use new pricing models to attract premium customers, official said. (1 US dollar = 0.7742 euro) (Reporting by Angelika Gruber, Editing by Michael Shields)