RCS&RDS, Orange and Vodafone customers can access mobile internet on the Bucharest subway free of charge

Telecom operators RCS&RDS, Orange and Vodafone have announced that their customers will be able to use mobile internet free of charge on the Bucharest subway system.

The first to make the announcement was RCS&RDS, the local operator with the most aggressive price policies. The firm announced on October 21 that by the end of the month it would “cover with Wi-Fi and 3G signal 85 percent of the subway stations in the capital, and, by the end of November, supply, in all the stations of the Bucharest underground, complete access to mobile internet services (Digi Wi-Fi, Digi Net Mobil) and voice services (Digi Mobil),” according to company officials.

Additionally, RCS&RDS allows any users of mobile devices to connect for one hour a day to the company’s wireless network via hotspot at no cost, announced the operator.

“RCS&RDS has continually expanded the Wi-Fi internet network and will reach, on November 1, more than 600 hotspots installed in the largest Romanian cities. The Digi Wi-Fi network is present, at this point, in 75 percent of Romanian counties,” added the company.

Orange was quick to follow suit, announcing that it will also provide free of charge mobile internet access to its users on the subway. The announcement was followed by a campaign, with ads displayed in subway stations across Bucharest. The operator boosted its mobile broadband customer base by 43 percent from the second to the third quarter of the year, reaching 4.3 million clients. The company also recently launched high-speed mobile internet, available only in Bucharest at the moment, allowing 43.2 Mbps download speeds and 5.76 Mbps upload speeds.

On November 9, Vodafone also officially announced that all its customers will get free mobile internet in the Bucharest subway network.

All Vodafone users, whether postpay or prepay, who have activated an internet option can access the operator’s networks via telephone, laptop or tablet.

The operator is offering these services via its 3G/HSDPA solution. The transfer to a free browsing session on the subway is made automatically, without modifying any setting. Users are returned to their normal tariff when they leave the subway station.

Vodafone’s mobile data network covers over 12,000 areas of Romania, allowing data download speeds of up to 21.6 Mbps.
Otilia Haraga