“It has been eight years since Lyca Mobile launched in Romania. During this time, it has been our privilege to help Romanians connect with friends and family, wherever they are, through our network.
Sadly, we have taken the difficult decision to close Lyca Mobile Romania. Lyca Mobile services in Romania will shut down on December 31, 2023,” the operator said in its announcement.
“In recent years, operational costs have become increasingly expensive which has led us to the difficult decision to close our business in Romania.”
ZF sent questions to the group, requesting additional details but did not get any reply. Lyca Mobile launched its services in Romania via a contract with Telekom Romania Mobile, which gave it access to its network.
Finance Ministry data show Lycamobile to have posted losses year by year and a dwindling revenue since 2016, along with an increase in debt.
The operator does not publish data on the number of users, but the data of the telecommunications market regulator ANCOM show it to have had just tens of thousands of customers.
Mobile virtual network operators in Romania – Lyca Mobile and GoiI Services (Benefito Mobile) accounted for 0.2% of the total mobile phone SIM cards (24.3 million) in use in Romania at the end of June.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)