RomTelecom expects new services to generate one third of revenues

Faced with a serious erosion of revenue derived from traditional services, RomTelecom is repositioning itself on the market as a complete telecom service and content provider, so as to offset the losses from its fixed telephony business. The plans of RomTelecom managers are to have the new services (Internet, data and TV) account for a larger share in the operator’s turnover in the near future. “At present, 15% of our revenue comes from wholesale services (revenues from other operators), and the remaining 85% is derived from retail services. These services are divided between traditional services (77%) and new services (8%),” says George Argentopoulos, chief operating officer of RomTelecom. He also provides a picture of what is going to happen in the next three years: “wholesale will rise, accounting for 20% of revenue, traditional services will generate 45% and the share of new services will go up from the current level of 8% to 35%.” Company revenue increased to 927.1 million euros last year from 866 million euros in 2004. Turnover recorded in the first half stood at 440 million euros, down 5.9% from the first half of last year, with the company posting 14.6 million-euro profit, 75.6% lower than in the corresponding period of 2005. The shift in the focus of RomTelecom’s business towards boosting revenues from such services as Internet and TV was done for a very good reason, as the company has been witnessing a dramatic decline in the number of subscribers. You can learn more in tomorrow’s issue of BUSINESS Magazin.