Competition To Sharpen On Romanian Telecom Mkt In ’09 – Report

"In 2009, competition will grow between the telecom operators and emphasis will be placed on the retention of clients. Smaller operators will try to benefit from the current conditions and will try to bring in clients from the competition. The companies that include more quality services at attractive prices will gain ground on the market," said Andrei Ionescu, Senior Manager Enterprise Risk Services within Deloitte Romania, in a press release.

 

He added this year the stakes will be higher, especially since last year there have been some changes in competition.

 

In addition, in 2009 mobile applications will be used to a greater extent, as well as Internet and mobile phone e-mail, in parallel with the use of smart phones.

 

"Mobile telephony operators will identify good opportunities on this segment and will launch special offers. In addition, several mobile applications will be available on the market at lower prices," said George Onofrei, manager of the management consulting team within Deloitte Romania.

 

The report states the experts are not expecting significant changes in the mobile telephony services penetration rate, which grew to 123% mid-2008, pointing to the maturing of the market and the economic crisis as factors for this evolution.

 

The Romanian mobile telephony market includes Orange Romania – 10.2 million clients, Vodafone Romania – 9.5 million users, Cosmote Romania – 5.2 million clients, RCS&RDS – 1.2 million subscribers (October 2008) and Telemobil – some 500,000 (at the end of June 2007). The largest fixed telephony operators are Romtelecom, UPC Romania and RCS&RDS.