BUCHAREST, Romania-Romanian national wireline operator Romtelecom said it plans to launch a mobile telephony service in February on an investment of about $500 million. The service, initially planned to begin this month, will make Romtelecom the fourth mobile operator in Romania.
Romtelecom Director General Vassilios Tsakoniatis said the mobile service, a Global System for Mobile communications 1800 network operating under the brand name CosmoRom, initially will offer service in three major cities-Bucharest, Constanta and Brasov-and along the highways connecting the cities.
“There was a delay in the start of the project, but by 2002, we plan to have all-country coverage for our operation,” Tsakoniatis said.
Mobilrom and MobiFon, which launched service in 1997, currently offer GSM service. Telemobil operates a Nordic Mobile Telephone 450 system. The country has about 1 million wireless customers.
Greece’s Ote Telecom has a 37-percent controlling stake in Romtelecom.
