08.07.2020

”In the context of the atypical period we are going through, in the first half of this year, ANCOM’s monitoring and control activity focused mainly on the surveillance of the market of radio equipment and electromagnetic compatibility, since non-compliance of radio equipment can cause harmful interference, and thus it may affect the proper functioning of electronic communications services. In this regard, the Authority carried out 419 control actions and sanctioned the non-conformities found with fines amounting to more than RON 200,000. Furthermore, we completed the investigation on the January 2020 security incident in which the company Orange Romania was involved, applying a contravention fine of RON 500,000. ”, declared Cristin Popa, Director of ANCOM’s Monitoring and Control Executive Division.

In the first half of the year, ANCOM carried out 1,735 control actions, sent 60 notifications and applied 200 warnings and 91 contravention fines, totalling RON 995,900. This amount is revenue to the state budget.

The market of radio equipment and electromagnetic compatibility

In the radio equipment and EMC market, ANCOM carried out 419 control actions, applying 80 warnings and 42 contravention fines amounting to RON 207,500 for equipment that was found non-compliant with the EMC rules. The highest fine was RON 35,000 and it was applied for advertising and making available on the market equipment designed to cause harmful interference (jammers).

Moreover, ANCOM cooperates with the General Directorate of Customs, the authority in charge of control at Romania’s border, to ensure that equipment placed on the national market – and, implicitly, on the EU market – conforms with the legislation in force. Thus, in the first half of 2020, ANCOM solved 29 notifications received from customs offices on suspending the free circulation of non-conforming equipment.

Electronic communications market

In the electronic communications market, in H1 2020, ANCOM conducted 1.080 control actions, issuing 60 notifications, and applying 76 warnings and 29 contravention fines, amounting to RON 727,400.

The Authority sanctioned Orange for the security incident of 14 January 2020, which affected 1,921,096 connections at national level, of which 769,725 mobile data connections and 1,151,371 mobile voice and SMS connections, for 405 minutes (starting 16:54 hrs.). This compromised network availability at the logical level for 53.93 minutes in one day, which exceeds the maximum limit allowed by licence.

ANCOM also applied 14 fines amounting to RON 137,400 to telephony service providers, mainly for breach of the obligations regarding the conclusion of contracts with the end-users.

Among internet service providers, ANCOM applied 2 contravention fines amounting to RON 10,000, for the provision of services without having concluded a valid contract.

6 contravention fines amounting to RON 40,000 were applied to radio and TV (RTV) broadcasting providers. The main sanctions were applied for non-compliance with the technical data, the parameters or the conditions provided in the technical authorisations.

CATV providers were sanctioned by 5 contravention fines amounting to RON 28,000 for breach of the conditions provided in the General Authorisation.

Moreover, ANCOM applied one fine amounting to RON 12,000 for the use of radio frequencies without a valid licence.

Postal services market

In H1 2020, ANCOM conducted 236 control actions, following which it applied 44 warnings and 20 contravention fines amounting to RON 61,500. A frequently found breach in this market was failure to observe the obligations imposed by the general authorization regime. 

4 of the control actions in the postal services market were carried out on the National Company Romanian Post (CNPR), that was applied a warning and a fine amounting to RON 5,000.