Zapp strikes deal with Germanos

Germanos, the largest telecom equipment retail chain on the Romanian market, is also to become a dealer for the products and services of Zapp, the mobile telephone operator that uses the CDMA 450 technology.

The agreement is part of Zapp’s development strategy to concentrate its efforts on attracting individual customers, alongside its business clients that are chiefly interested in its data traffic services.

“We have 240,000 users at the moment and we hope to see this number grow significantly by the end of the year,” said Cuneyt Turktan, president of the company’s Board of Directors. Besides the addition of new subscribers, Zapp also confirmed its first half-year turnover to have exceeded $35 million. The company will rely on the end-of-year period to bring its turnover up to $80 million, as compared with $52 million in 2003.

The partnership with Germanos will allow the mobile telephone operator to expand its presence on the local market. Zapp had 21 shops and 200 dealers throughout the country before this deal. Germanos’ Romanian network is made up of 72 shops in 45 cities (29 of which operate under franchises); this number is set to increase to 78 by the end of the year. Furthermore, Germanos works with over 100 partners.

“Some 250,000 people on average visit Germanos shops each month, and 75,000 actually buy phones or accessories. Almost one quarter purchase a mobile phone,” claimed Lucian Dorobantu, Germanos Romania’s commercial director. Germanos officials have announced a 50 million-euro turnover for this year, as compared with 37 million euros in 2003, and its parent company announced early in 2004 that Germanos Telecom Romania would go public as of next year.

In an attempt to appeal yet more to individual customers, Zapp has launched a special offer valid in Germanos shops until October 31. Customers choosing the Zapp Smart subscription ($7/month) will receive a monthly $7 credit for the first six months of their subscription, which can be used for calls within or outside the network, sending SMS text messages and Internet access.

dan.dragomir@zf.ro