Speaking Tuesday at ZF Digital ’12, an event organized by ZIARUL FINANCIAR on October 16 and 17, Vodafone Romania chief executive officer Inaki Berroeta said telecom operators paid EUR700 million on a market posting overall profit of EUR200 million, adding the mere purchase of licenses is not enough, as it must go hand in hand with investments for further development.
Cosmote & Romtelecom CEO Stefanos Theocharopoulos said the auction was organized very well, but the price was very high and, he went on, the market does not justify the price compared to other markets in the area.
In his turn, Orange Romania CEO Jean-François Fallacher said the local telecom operators have financial resources to pay for the licenses and they have already drafted plans, they are fully ready and expect to get hold of telecom licenses.
Following an auction in September, telecom operators Cosmote, Orange, RCS&RDS, Vodafone and 2K Telecom acquired, for EUR682.14 million, mobile telephony licenses in frequency bands 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.800 MHz and 2.600 MHz. The telecom watchdog said at the time that the five operators acquired 85% of the available spectrum. ANCOM auctioned off frequency blocks totaling 575 MHz, at a starting price of EUR726.8 million.
Vodafone Romania is due to pay EUR228.52 million, Orange Romania will pay EUR227.14 million, Cosmote Romania will pay EUR179.88 million, RCS&RDS will pay EUR40 million and 2K Telecom will pay EUR6.6 million.