Orange ups revenues, number of customers in Romania in 2016

Telecom operator Orange Romania registered revenues of EUR 986.8 million in 2016, up 4.2% over the previous year, when the company’s revenues reached EUR 947 million. In the fourth quarter of last year, Orange registered a turnover of EUR 259.7 million in Romania, up 3.8% year-on-year. Orange Romania reached 10.38 million customers at the end of December 2016. For the first time, the number of subscription clients went over 5 million, the company announced. At the end of 2015, Orange had 10.17 million customers in Romania. Last year, Orange also became a supplier of fixed services in urban areas, following an agreement with Telekom Romania, thus completing the existing portfolio of voice and mobile Internet, satellite television, and fixed Internet offered via the 4G technology, with fixed services of high-speed Internet and cable TV. The satellite and cable TV services, Orange Home TV, registered 330,000 subscribers, which represented a year-on-year increase of 20.9% in the fourth quarter of 2016. When it comes to Orange TV Go, the app that provides access to content directly on the users’ phone or tablet, the average monthly number of active users almost doubled in the last quarter of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, according to the company. Last year, the telecom company also continued the investments in the 4G network, expanding the coverage to the main national roads and the highways connecting Bucharest to the seaside and the west part of the country. Thus, the number of localities where Orange’s 4G services went up to 6,700. The company currently holds the largest 4G network in Romania, covering 97% of the urban population and 80% of the total population. At the end of 2016, Orange had more than 2.2 million 4G customers in Romania, the number being almost double the one reported at the end of 2015. The mobile Internet traffic also doubled in 2016 vs. 2015, and the 4G traffic went up four times. The Orange Money service, which allows users to transfer money and make payments by phone, reached 16,000 subscribers in just a few weeks. The service was launched in early-November. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com