The company taking over the NOC will also have to take over the staff thereof, and a short list of candidates has already been drawn up so the group is now in talks with them, several telecom industry sources told ZF.
“The NOC outsourcing is an important process for the two companies. The contract also includes the obligation of the winner to take over the employees of Cosmote and Romtelecom, several hundred people in all. It’s a big project, it’s not just about 100 people,” a communications industry source told ZF.
The number of staff included in the contract might be 500 to 600 working for the two companies. The group has not picked a winner yet. Asked by ZF for comment, Cosmote and Romtelecom representatives indirectly confirmed they were contemplating the possibility without providing further details.
“To develop the organizations in the right direction, many plans such as the Managed Services model, are being analyzed and implemented. The model provides both cost efficiency and high specialization capacity. The decision to use such a model will be made after careful consideration of all aspects and will be revealed at the right time.”
Romtelecom has previously signed an outsourcing deal, transferring operations and employees (more than 400), with Ericsson at the end of 2009, a first for the local telecommunications industry at the time.
“Romtelecom and Cosmote are constantly striving to improve operational performance to provide highest quality products and services to their clients and a stable workplace for employees, meeting shareholders’ goals at the same time. The two companies are constantly adjusting their strategies to be flexible and improve response speed to the market conditions,” Cosmote and Romtelecom officials added.
The two companies are ready to take the outsourcing step at a time when the drop in termination fees and the necessary investments in the fixed and mobile network (especially in 4G technology) combined with the high competitive pressure are putting pressure on the operating profit margin, an indicator Deutsche Telekom (which owns stake in the group’s owner, Greece’s OTE) is carefully watching above all else.
“The two operators want to cut OPEX because of the heavy pressure on EBITDA,” a communications industry source said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)