Which are the best cable tv, internet and telephony service providers in Romania?
Many of us are staying in Romania for studies, for work or even for a long vacation so it would be useful to know which are the best cable tv, internet and telephony service providers in Romania.
We won’t talk about satellite dish television because this kind of transmission is offered only in the areas where there is no cable infrastructure (hopefully, you will not have to live in one of these areas š ).
Which are the best internet service providers in Romania?
From the internet point of view, the situation is very clear, as RCS – RDS leads this poll without questions. The top broadband ISPs in Romania are:
- RCS – RDS (Digi Romania) – this is a Romanian company (which extended its services also in Spain, Italy, Hungary and Slovakia) well known for its very low prices. Their best internet plan (Fiberlink 1000 – maximum 1Gbps download) costs 39 RON (~8.4 euros) and we get also a fiber optic converter which has free wifi capabilities. They have great service support (both customer service and technical support) and are the best option considering both quality and price. So, if you have fixed network coverage from RCS – RDS in your area, don’t hesitate to sign the contract.
- TelekomĀ – the Romanian brand Telekom Romania is owned by Deutsche Telekom and is known for having the most extended cable network coverange in the country, as it was the first cable company in Romania. Their best subscription, Internet L, has a maximum speed of 1 Gbps (free wifi router included) and you have to choose also a cable tv plan in order to install the internet. Their prices are fair for what they offer. They have an acceptable customer support department.
- UPCĀ – UPC is a company currently owned by Liberty Global but not for long, they already agreed to sell UPC to Vodafone, although it takes time for the transaction to finish. The best UPC subscription is Internet 500 (maximum speed of 500 Mbps), it costs 49 RON/month (~10.5 euros – pretty expensive compared to other ISPs) and wifi router included. It is recommended to avoid UPC if we have other posibilities, because their internet prices are pretty expensive and they have very frequent major outages. Also, by phone, their customer service operators are hard to reach.
- OrangeĀ – Orange Romania is a new ISP, they recently starting providing this service, they don’t have their own network, but are using the Telekom infrastructure. Their prices and speeds are almost the same to Telekom.
- NextGenĀ – This is a company created and owned by Telekom (at that time, former known as Romtelecom). Their best internet plan, Internet NextPower 1000, has a maximum bandwidth of 1 Gbps and it costs 55 RON/month (~11.8 euros). They are expensive so it is an option only if we don’t have other possibilities.
- AktaĀ – Akta has (in my honest opinion) one of the worst technical support departments and it is recommended to avoid them if we have other options. Their best internet plan, Akta Fibra Torent Plus, costs 70 RON (~15 euros) with a speed of maximum 100 Mbps. Very expensive and very low bandwidth, their only advantage is they offer services in small cities where no one else has wirings.
Besides the 6 major ISPs in Romania, we can find hundreds of local ISPs, neighbourhood operators which may or may not have better prices (but usually they care much more for their customers than a major ISP), so if you want to know which is the best ISP in your area, leave a comment and we will try to give you the best advice.
Which are the best cable television providers in Romania?
- UPCĀ – UPC has clearly the best cable tv plans in Romania, although their plans are a liiiittle more expensive then the rest, it is worth it. Their best tv plan, Play Maxim, gives us the possibility to view 164 channels, free HD mediabox (digital television, DVR, replay options) for only 45 RON/month (almost 10 euros/month). They have the most wanted channels by Romanian customers, and I don’t mean Romanian channels.
- RCS – RDSĀ – Although leaders from the Internet point of view, RCS offers a very cheap tv plan but with few channels. Their subscription, Digital, offers digital television (free receiver included) with ~100 channels to view. Combined with the Internet plan, Digi Romania has the best 2-play pachet in Romania, very cheap and great services.
- Orange –Ā 121 channels for 9 euros. Sounds good, right? This is what Orange offers through their best cable tv plan, Global.
- TelekomĀ – Telekom has its best digital cable tv plan Televiziune L for 58.37 RON/month (~12.55) and provides 155 channels. In the last months they removed many channels from their program list so we recommend that you check the channels you want before signing the contract.
- AktaĀ – As I already said, bad customer service, so it is to be avoided. We can opt for Akta only if we don’t have other options.
- iNESĀ – iNES is a very interesting IPTV provider, they are very expensive (50 euros/month for cable tv, internet and phone landline) and they have the richest channel list from all the operators. 200 (yes, 200!) channels, many of them are FullHD and few even 4K. They offer a 4K set top box for free and they have fiber internet with the bandwidth of maximum 500 Mbps. Of course, free wifi.
Besides the basic plans, every operator has extra packages (HBO, Maxpack, Hungarian channels, Sport channels and so on). Depending on what kind of channels you really want, you can leave a comment and we will choose the best cable tv plan you can have.
Which is the best mobile network operator in Romania?
The Romanian mobile network market is very extended, every operator has many packages with or without phones so we won’t get into details regarding the prices (if we would do that, it would take days š ).
- OrangeĀ – From my point of view, the best mobile network provider in Romania is Orange, closely followed by Vodafone. Orange has a very extended 2G/3G/4G/4G+ mobile network and the best mobile data bandwidth. Their prices, along with Vodafone’s, are almost the highest, but it is worth it if you want quality.
- VodafoneĀ – Vodafone also has a very extended mobile network coverage so if we want to almost always have signal, we can choose without problems Orange or Vodafone.
- Digi Romania (RCS – RDS)Ā – Digi entered the mobile network market later than Orange and Vodafone but managed to obtain a very impresive client database, they have without doubt the cheapest mobile network plan in Romania and if you need signal mostly in big cities, this is the right choice for you. Unfortunately, on country roads the signal gets worse.
- TelekomĀ – Although one of the oldes mobile networks in Romania (along with Orange and Vodafone), Telekom started having problems after they were bought by Deutsche Telekom. The prices are almost the same as Vodafone and Orange but the quality is way worse.
As for the landlines (telephony) I don’t think we need to make a top because everyone has cheap subscriptions (maximum 1-2 euros/month) and I don’t think many foreign persons need a landline. In Romania, the landlines are used by elders who don’t know how to use a mobile phone.
All the service provider contracts must be signed for 12 or 24 months. If you will want to cancell your subscription earlier, then you will have to pay various taxes.
If you want any information regarding the network coverage or the best cable tv, internet, telephony or mobile network plan, leave a comment and we’ll try to give you the best advice.