Direct-to-home subscriptions soar 177%

Thus, the number of DTH service subscribers rose 177 percent year-on-year, especially in rural and urban areas with no previous access to private TV channels or cable networks.

This growth led to a 19 percent increase in overall subscribers for TV rebroadcasting networks. The main providers on the local market are RCS&RDS, UPC, Boom TV, and national landline phone operator Romtelecom’s Dolce service.

The ANRCTI report also states that roaming voice traffic rose 87 percent last year compared to 2006, due to lower tariffs for calls made from European Union (EU) member states. “The setting of European tariff thresholds in September 2007 was one of the main factors encouraging Romanians to speak more on their mobile phones while traveling in EU member states,” ANRCTI’s President, Dan Georgescu, told Business Standard.

This growth was registered amid a significant rise in clients registered by the mobile service networks operating in Romania. By the end of 2007, there were 22.9 million mobile phone users, a figure exceeding the country’s population, leading the penetration ratio to 106.2 percent. Mobile service operators locally are Orange Romania, Vodafone, Cosmote, Zapp, and DigiMobile.

On the landline service segment, the former state-owned Romtelecom, presently controlled by Greek OTE group, is still leader, with a 71 percent share of the market.
By the end of last year, some 4.26 million people had a subscription to at least one landline operator, 1.4 percent higher than in 2006. Some 1.22 million of the total subscribers were clients of alternative operators (other than Romtelecom), which secured 29 percent of the market.