Orange Romania's revenues almost flat in Q1 2013, growth limited by new regulations

Telecom operator Orange Romania's revenues remained almost flat in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same period last year, despite an increase in customers. Revenues reached EUR 219 million in the first three months of 2013, down 1.4 percent on a comparable base, while the company saw a slight rise in customers, to just over 10.2 million.

New legislation that limits the amount mobile operators can charge for connecting to other networks have had an impact on revenues. Without taking into account the new interconnection regulations, revenues would have increased by 4.5 percent on Q1 2012. The number of Orange customers in Romania stood at 10.087 million in the first quarter of last year and 10.283 million in Q4 2012. Orange's Annualized Average Revenue per User (ARPU) was EUR 77 in Q1 2013, compared to EUR 79 in final quarter of 2012 and EUR 82 in Q1 2012. Last month, Orange Romania announced that it would enter the TV broadcasting segment this year, after receiving the license to re-broadcast audiovisual programs via mobile, according to Romanian daily Gandul. The telecom company will also launch an online platform with multimedia content, including films, documentaries and several TV channels. Romanian media sources suggest Orange’s launch on the TV segment could happen in April or May this year. Orange Romania is majority owned by France Telecom and is one of the three main players on the Romanian mobile market, along with Vodafone Romania and Cosmote, owned by the OTE Group. Orange finished 2012 with total revenues of some EUR 913 million in Romania. editor@romania-insider.com