According to Romanian business daily Ziarul Financiar, telecoms operator Romania Cable Systems (RCS&RDS) intends to increase its mobile internet download speeds from 7.2Mbps to 14.4Mbps in 20 cities by the end of June. Citing a notification that the operator sent to its customers, ZF has indicated that cities where the upgrade will be applied are: Bucharest, Oradea, Cluj, Brasov, Timisoara, Craiova, Targu Mures, Sibiu, Ploiesti alongside a number of Black Sea resorts. To date, higher mobile internet speeds have been implemented in Iasi, Constanta, Arad, Galati, Bacau, Pitesti, Braila and Buzau.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, cableco-turned-cellco RCS&RDS received a 15-year 3G licence in October 2006, paying USD35 million for the concession. In March the following year it awarded an equipment supply contract to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and launched a W-CDMA pilot in the northern city of Oradea later that month. RCS&RDS went on to launch full commercial 3G services under the name Digi.Mobil in Bucharest, Bacau, Craiova, Iasi, Oradea, Pitesti, Targu Mures and Timisoara in October 2007. At end-March 2011 RCS&RDS had an estimated 3G subscriber base of 2.2 million.