Neighbourhood networks start to sell

Major telecom operators are now contemplating the acquisition of neighbourhood Internet access networks, which emerged in areas where the major players thought expanding was not a profitable move. Starting out with several dozen million ROL two or three years ago, the neighbourhood networks are now selling for about a quarter million euros, says the BUSINESS Magazin weekly in today’s issue. “I’m not downplaying the importance of my work here, I want payment in cash, not in instalments, I am a serious man,” says Florin Stanici, a partner in the company that owns the Enter-Net neighbourhood network in Bucharest, which has 2,500 subscribers, according to the company’s representative. Stanici is negotiating the sale of the network for 200 euros/subscriber. Takeovers of neighbourhood networks are not a first. “Astral bought up some of these networks in 2005, now it’s the turn of RCS & RDS and Air Bites,” says Laurentiu Stan, general manager of Euroweb, one of the leading wholesale Internet Service Providers. Four networks in Bucharest have come under RCS & RDS’ management directly or indirectly, with the total value of these transactions estimated at one million euros. “You never know what you buy when you take over a neighbourhood network,” admits Aurelian Stancu, chairman of DCN Networks. He says his 2,500-strong subscriber network was appraised by a telecom operator at one million euros. “Dozens or hundreds of young Romanians have evolved from gamers to businessmen,” reads the official presentation of Interlan, an association that groups 30 small ISPs. Cristian Copcea (photo) of Roaming Networks has 7,000 phone numbers in his phone book and knows every single one of the people the numbers belong to personally.