Fixed telephony gasping in Central Europe

According to company figures and estimates by Erste Bank there will be 23.3 and 20 percent drops in 2007 year-on-year in revenue for Magyar Telecom (Hungary) and TPSA (Poland), respectively, while Telefonica O2 (Czech Republic) will be down by 21.4 percent. According to data supplied, Romtelecom registered a mere 6.8 percent in revenue in the third quarter over Q3 2006.

There were also significant losses of fixed phone users: the highest, according to figures available, by Romtelecom from the third quarter in 2006 to Q3 2007, of 16.52 percent, followed by Telefonica O2, at 14 percent, TPSA, at 10 percent, and Magyar Telecom, at 3.45 percent.