The Romanian telecom market will see consolidation in the following years and Vodafone is ready to talk merger or a potential acquisition, said Vittorio Colao, CEO of British telecom group Vodafone, in an interview for local business daily Ziarul Financiar.

The group’s strategy for Romania is to start offering fixed voice and internet services for retail clients and to also expand on the video and TV segment, according to Colao. Vodafone’s main competitors, Orange and especially Telekom Romania are already tackling these market segments.

Vodafone, which is currently the second largest player on the local mobile communications market, has invested in developing a fiber optics network in Romania, but so far it only sold fixed voice and data services to companies and not to retail.

“Now is the time to start thinking about offering fixed services to the consumer segment. We are also looking at expanding on TV,” Colao said. He expects Romanian authorities to force large fixed network owners to open these for competitors so they can get to the homes of potential clients as well. He also expects of his local team to be more aggressive in its efforts to determine the changes in regulations.

Vodafone has some 8 million clients in Romania. Last year, Vodafone Romania had a turnover of EUR 750 million.

editor@romania-insider.com