Romania is one of the countries where a less developed fixed telephony infrastructure can boost demand for mobile broadband services, according to Arun Sarin (photo), CEO of the British group Vodafone, one of the most powerful executives on the global mobile telephony market. "In countries like Turkey, Romania, South Africa, where fixed telephony lines are not that widespread, users are directly and naturally attracted to broadband Internet, which allows for mobile Internet access to entertainment and financial services to be introduced more quickly," said the head of Vodafone. Romania has one of the lowest penetration rates of fixed telephony and Internet access services in the EU. Vodafone is fast turning from a mobile phone company into a broadband company, Sarin said, adding that telecom operators are now forced to develop new mobile communications services, such as games, music and films. If they fail to become involved, operators take on the risk of losing their relevance on a competitive market, believes Sarin. In addition, Arun Sarin disputed a statement that named Vodafone as the second largest player on the Romanian mobile phone market, after rival Orange. "I don't agree with that. We have almost 50% of the market. We have an extremely strong presence in Southern Romania at the very least. What we must do is strengthen our position in the North of the country," stated Sarin. Orange announced a 1.234 billion-euro turnover for 2007 and 9.8 million clients, whilst Vodafone closed 2007 with revenues put at 1.2 billion euros and 8.8 million clients. Other major competitors on the mobile phone market include Cosmote, Telemobil and RCS&RDS.
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