The only operator capable of challenging RomTelecom's reign on the Romanian fixed telephony market at the moment could be Societatea Nationala a Cailor Ferate (National Railway Company). At least this is what Varujan Pambuccian, chairman of the Information and Communications Technology Committee within the Chamber of Deputies says.
Pambuccian feels the newly liberalised Romanian telecom market will not have room for more than ten major operators in the long run.
"RomTelecom is the only real telecommunications operator. It is the only company that has a local loop (the final connection between the end user and infrastructure i.e.). RomTelecom's only real competitor could be CFR's telecom company, but only if it manages to install its own local loop. CFR has the most extensive backbone in Romania. Unfortunately, they lack a nose for business, which means there will be quite a while until they actually challenge RomTelecom," Pambuccian said.
SNCFR has already announced plans to enter the telecom market next month and provide only international telephony services at first. Other major operators on the market are PCNET that started providing VoIP services for international calls as of January 1, and the two powerful cable TV operators RCS and Astral.
Last year's foreign investments in the Romanian telecom sector amounted to some $700-$800 million, Alexandrina Hartan, deputy chairperson of the National Communications Regulating Authority (ANRC) estimates. Deregulation has not only piqued the interest of powerful foreign telecom companies, it will also lead to higher investments of the foreign operators in Romania this year.
Some of the foreign operators to have notified ANRC of their plans and to have shown a lot of interest in the new competitive conditions on the market are AT&T and Slovenia-based Iskrateling Company.
An IBM Consulting survey shows the Romanian communications market to rank fifth among the EU applicants in terms of value, while the Communications and Information Technology Ministry (MCTI) has recently announced this is a market worth $2.3bn.
The fixed telephony market deregulation will also result in an Internet market increase this year. The market currently amounts to $35-$40 million and will grow by up to 50% to $50-$60 million, Gheorghe Rusu, chairman of the National Association of Internet Service Providers says.
If adding the possible VoIP-generated revenues, the market could total $70-$80 by yearend, the same official added.
ANRC data show that 71 companies are willing to enter the local telephony market, 84 are looking to provide inter-county call services and 97 want to provide international telephony services. Some of the companies are planning to provide several kinds of services. The interesting thing is that 51 of those to have submitted notifications are planning to install pay phones.
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