Vodafone, Orange and OTE's investments in Romania reach EUR 7.6 bln, more to come in license bid

Telecom companies Vodafone, Orange and OTE have invested EUR 7.6 billion in their Romanian subsidiaries so far. Their representatives gave the final numbers during a joint conference organized in Bucharest earlier today ( March 13 ), in the wake of the upcoming bid for mobile telephony licenses in Romania.

Vodafone has poured EUR 2.6 billion into its Romanian subsidiary in the last 15 years, according to Inaki Berroeta, Vodafone Romania CEO. Berroeta foresees the need for more investments in the future, as “clients demand more, above our expectations, especially on the data segment, and the growth in this area will continue in the coming years, and such an evolution on the telecom market needs significant investments from telecom operators,” said the Vodafone Romania CEO. Orange has invested over EUR 2 billion since its market entry in 1997. “With 2,500 employees in Romania, Orange is interested in the local market and will continue to bring cutting edge technologies to its clients, said Jean-François Fallacher, GM of Orange Romania. Greek group OTE, which owns mobile telephony operator Cosmote Romania and landline operator Romtelecom, has invested EUR 3 billion so far in the country, where it has 10,000 employees. “Cosmote will take part in the bid organized for mobile telephony licenses. Investments in developing telecom infrastructure are very important in the long term, engaging significant resources from operators and contributing to the dynamic of foreign investments in Romania," said Stefanos Theocharopoulos, CEO of Cosmote and Romtelecom. He warned that higher tax could diminish the level of investments the operator could make in the network. ANCOM, Romania's Communications Authority, will start a public debate on Wednesday (March 14) on the documents for the bid on mobile telephony licenses in Romania, which are currently owned by Vodafone, Orange and Cosmote. editor@romania-insider.com