Broadband, Pay-TV Drive Growth in Romania as Bundling Remains Key for Success, finds Pyramid

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts - Broadband and pay-TV will become the major sources of growth in the Romanian telecom market during the next five years, while bundling remains key for success as competition intensifies, according to the latest report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Communications Markets in Romania offers a precise, incisive profile of the converged telecommunications, media, and technology sectors in Romania based on exclusive market and economic data collected by Pyramid Research. The 30-page report provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies such as WiMax, IPTV, and VoIP. Download an excerpt of this report here: www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=18&sc=PR061809_CIRROM

By year-end, Romania is expected to become the fourth-largest CEE telecom market revenue-wise, after Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Total telecom revenue is projected to grow to US$7.6 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 4.27 percent, above the average result for the CEE region, notes Sylwia Boguszewska, Analyst at Pyramid Research and co-author of the report.

“Due to a strong uptake of fixed and mobile broadband, the mobile data market is forecast to be worth more than US$0.8 billion in 2014 — an almost 80 percent increase in value from 2009,” says Boguszewska. “Fixed broadband will continue to grow, boosted by growth in DSL and cable, at a CAGR of 4.1 percent, while mobile broadband will grow at a CAGR of 21.7 percent in the same period,” she says. “IPTV is the fastest-growing segment of the pay-TV market; its market share will almost triple in the 2008 to 2014 period — increasing from 1.0 percent in 2008 to 3.5 percent in 2014.”

Most players have launched triple-play packages combining telephone, Internet, and TV services, while bundles incorporating fixed and mobile broadband are also becoming a standard. “Although Pyramid expects that triple play’s share will decline to 66 percent in 2014 as households affected by the economic decline go for lower-priced bundles, bundling remains key for success,” says Boguszewska. “Affordable, budget bundles are likely to attract customers hit by the economic crisis; at the same time, high speeds and rich content remain important as competition intensifies,” she explains. “Mobile operators Orange and Vodafone are expected to enter the multiplay market following the anticipated LLU price drop by Romtelecom, and their entry will make fixed-mobile bundles standard and increase competition.”

Communications Markets in Romania is part of Pyramid Research’s Central and Eastern Europe Country Intelligence Report Series. Pyramid Research’s premium Country Intelligence Reports are the industry’s best available analysis on market trends, regulatory environments, and competitive dynamics for 60 countries worldwide.

Download an excerpt of this report here: www.pyramidresearch.com/downloads.htm?id=18&sc=PR061809_CIRROM

Communications Markets in Romania is priced at US$990 and can be purchased online here: www.pyramidresearch.com/store/CIRROMANIA.htm?sc=PR061809_CIRROM or through Dave Williams via email at dave.williams@pyr.com or telephone at +1-858-485-8870.

For more information about Pyramid Research’s products and services, including our Multiplay Services Forecasts which provide demand and revenue data and projections at the operator level for bundled and blended services across 23 countries, please visit www.pyr.com or contact us at info@pyr.com.

About Pyramid Research

Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) offers practical solutions to the complex demands our clients face in the telecommunications, media and technology industries. Our analysis is uniquely positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, powered by the bottom-up methodology of our market forecasts for over 100 countries-a distinction that has remained unmatched for more than 25 years. As the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network, Pyramid Research works with Heavy Reading, providing the communications industry’s most comprehensive market data, trusted research and insightful technology analysis.

About Light Reading

Founded in 2000, Light Reading (www.lightreading.com) is the leading online media, research, and focused event company serving the US$3 trillion worldwide communications market. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for technology and financial analysis of the communications industry, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content, and reputation. Light Reading’s research arms, Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, provide the most comprehensive communications research, market data, and technology analysis in close to 100 markets around the world. Light Reading produces nearly 20 targeted communications events including TelcoTV, Ethernet Expo New York and Ethernet Expo London, The Tower Summit @ CTIA, and Optical Expo, as well as focused one-day events tailored for cable, mobile, and wireline executives. Light Reading was acquired by United Business Media in August 2005 and operates as a unit of TechWeb.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than US$2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

About United Business Media Limited

UBM (UBM.L) focuses on two principal activities: worldwide information distribution, targeting and monitoring; and, the development and monetization of B2B communities and markets. UBM’s businesses inform markets and serve professional commercial communities — from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists — with integrated events, online, print and business information products. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, bringing buyers and sellers together, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.

Press contact: Jennifer Baker +1-617-871-1910 jbaker@pyr.com

Source: Pyramid Research

Jennifer Baker, +1-617-871-1910, jbaker at pyr.com