Romanian mobile operator Zapp has taken out a EUR 220 million loan with China Development Bank, reports Ziarul Financiar. The loan contract is dated 12 May 2008 and has been signed between the borrower Zapp Holdings and lenders that included China Development Bank and financial institutions such as Fortis Intertrust Agency & Escrow. The loan warranty was established at EUR 440 million. CEO of Zapp Romania Chris Batailard recently said that Zapp will launch its 3G services this autumn.
Zapp intends to cover over 110 cities at the end of 2009 and will become the fourth 3G operator in Romania, following Orange and Vodafone, who won their licenses in 2004 and Romanian cable operator RCS&RDS, who won the licence in October 2006, in the same auctions as Telemobil (the company which owns Zapp). The operator selected Chinese company ZTE as its equipment provider.
Zapp is the only CDMA-based operator in Romania but is using UMTS technology for its 3G network.