CFR Telecoms gains foothold in Europe

Telecomunicatii CFR (the telecom arm of the Romanian Railway Company – CFR) concluded an inter-connection agreement with telecommunication operator Matav (Hungary), which will allow the Romanian company to get access to the European telecom infrastructure, Ion Zinca, general manager of the Romanian operator, said.

“Deutsche Telekom holds the majority stake in Matav, so that, following this agreement, we may say we joined the telecom elite,” Zinca added.

The Telecomunicatii CFR official also said a similar agreement with a Bulgarian-based operator is to be closed in about a month and other partnerships will be signed with telecom companies from the Republic of Moldova, the Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Telecomunicatii CFR continues the network expansion programme and will install 1,200 kilometres of fibre optics by March 2004, in addition to the already existing 3,600 kilometers.

“The final length of the fibre optics network will amount to 7,500 kilometres, while the total investment will account for some $120 million. Ericsson and Alcatel were selected to install 1,200 kilometres of fibre optics,” the company’s general manager added.

Telecomunicatii CFR was established following the re-organisation of the Telecommunication Agency of the Romanian Railway Company CFR S.A. The modernisation of rail telecommunications began in 1998 and aimed at a fibre optics network, a digital transmission backbone network (DTBN) and an integrated services digital network (ISDN).

By yearend, Telecomunicatii CFR will be providing Internet access services in 50-60 railway stations.

“We posted good results in a pilot-project run in the Braila and Galati railway stations. There will be a low cost for every hour of Internet surfing,” Zinca said.