ACC-BUCHAREST. 2010 was a difficult year for some of Romania’s leading providers of telecom services, with some posting huge losses.
In a study undertaken by Media Expres and drawing in data obtained from the fiscal authority and National Audiovisual Council (CNA), it transpires that the largest loss was incurred by UPC (RON658.8 million – €151.2 million), though this could in part be put down to the acquisition of other networks.
Romtelecom and RCS/RDS meanwhile lost RON232 million and RON70.3 million in 2010 respectively, with Digital Cable Systems (RON11.4 million) and Focus Sat (RON30.3 million) also in the red.
Taken as a whole, companies providing cable, DTH, IPTV, internet and telephony services lost €181.5 million in 2010.
Interestingly, in terms of turnover for all their activities Romtelecom was in top spot and the IPTV provider Ines in seventh.
The most profitable company was a telco based in Iasi that made almost €1 million following its sale to RCS&RDS last year.
Ines meanwhile made a profit of around €0.5 million in 2010.