Severina Pascu, UPC CEO: There is potential for growth, but first six months will be difficult

After investing 100 million euros in its network in two years and offering the fastest fixed Internet on the market, UPC believes it can now fight more effectively for clients.

The first three months of the year were difficult for the entire telecom market, both the consumer and the business segment, which will probably continue in the second quarter, but the industry has potential to grow on several segments, Severina Pascu, CEO of UPC Romania, one of the biggest telecom operators in Romania, told ZF in an interview.

“For now one cannot talk about a relaxing of consumers, and I am reluctant when it comes to providing forecasts. It is obvious that the market will rebound when the economy rebounds. Estimates are currently better than they were last year, but it takes a while from the time the economy starts to work again until the time macroeconomic improvements are apparent and consumers start to feel confident that they can spend more generously. I think the first half of the year will continue to be difficult, both on the residential segment and on the B2B segment,” Pascu said.

UPC Romania, no. 2 on the Romanian TV services market, posted 120.9 million-euro revenues in 2010, down 2.03% against the preceding year. The 2% decline is considered a “very good” performance, given that the entire market fell and rival Romtelecom, which made acquisitions, posted 8% lower revenues last year.