Financiarul

InfoClik, provider of the 118800 universal phone service about Romanian subscribers, committed to invest EUR 10 million euros over the next five years in the development of this sector, president of the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communication (ANCOM) Catalin Marinescu on Tuesday told a press conference.

“The company that won the auction in June may request the annual reimbursement based on the net income, but only if the costs exceed the planned investment. It is however unlikely that these costs will be higher in the first two years of operation. As far as the investment is concerned, I can tell you that InfoClik has set itself the target to invest EUR 10 million over the next five years in the development of the single service about subscribers,” said Marinescu.

According to InfoClik general manager Kostas Papadoupous, 30,000 calls were registered in the first three weeks after the release of the universal number. As for the toll charged on subscribers for accessing this service, rates vary by the network the call is made from, specifically between 0.71 euro per minute for Romtelecom and 0.36 euros/call + 0.42 euro/minute for the Orange network.

“Toll charges for 118800 calls are differentiated by the network the call is placed from. So far, fees for the four networks customer information is available for at this number are as follows: Romtelecom charges a fee of 0.71 euros per minute; UPC – 1.19 lei/call + 1.19 lei/minute; Vodafone – 0.30 euros/call + 0.30 euro/minute; and Orange – 0.36 euros/call + 0.42 euros per minute,” said Papadoupous. InfoClick announced the service is available round the clock.

According to company officials, the subscriber directory contains the most complete database in Romania, comprising contact details about private users and companies, including holders of prepaid cards who accept this. In June 2009, ANCOM designated InfoClik to become universal service provider in Romania, based on the analysis of bids submitted in two tender procedures. InfoClik was founded in 2008 and its mission is to operate on the market of information on telephone subscribers.

Newsphone Hellas SA, the Greek company founded in March 1995 and listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, will operate the universal customer information service alongside InfoClik. The company operates the national subscriber directory for the short number 11880 for subscribers from Greece. In Romania, the directory is also available in electronic format at www.118800.com.ro.