Deutsche Telekom starts aggressive price campaign in Romania to win back lost ground

Telekom Romania, the local subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom group, has launched its most aggressive campaign since the rebranding. Under the slogan #Netliberare (Free the Internet) Telekom offers as much as 38 GB of data traffic on prepaid card, for EUR 5 per month plus VAT. This offer reminds of the time when Greek mobile operator Cosmote was making its way on the Romanian market, in 2005, offering prepaid card users thousands of minutes for just EUR 3 per month. Cosmote thus managed to grow very fast and reach a few million users on a market dominated by Orange and Vodafone. Telekom Romania seems to be trying a similar move now to regain some of the ground lost to its competitors in recent years. German group Deutche Telekom unified the former Romtelecom and Comsote Romania under its own brand in 2014, in an attempt to gain the market leader position. However, despite its marketing efforts and despite launching converged fixed-mobile service packages, Telekom has seen its revenues decline and its client base eroded. The strong offensive of local group RCS&RDS, the leader of the fixed internet and cable TV market, on the mobile segment has also contributed to Telekom’s decline. RCS&RDS has gained the most clients from its competitors in recent years due to aggressive offers. For example, RCS&RDS now offers unlimited phone conversations and up to 50 GB of data traffic for less than EUR 5 per month. editor@romania-insider.com