Cosmote swoops on Zapp in Romania

Greek carrier Cosmote has signed an agreement to acquire Romanian mobile operator Telemobil, which operates under the Zapp brand.

Cosmote is buying the operator under a share purchase agreement worth €61m, with the Greek firm also assuming Zapp’s debt and other liabilities worth in the region on €146m.

Zapp holds a CDMA license in the 450MHz band and a 3G WCDMA license in the 2100MHz band. Its 3G network currently covers 23 Romanian cities and its total customer base exceeds 374,000 post paid customers, the company said.

Cosmote already operates Romania’s third largest cellco, with 6.6 million GSM customers at the end of March 2009, with the company apparently looking to merge operations with its new acquisition.

The Romanian market is dominated by Orange Romania, with 10.1 million subscribers, followed by Vodafone with 9.7 million, and RCS&RDS with two million users bringing up the rear.