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ANCOM Conducted 8,400 Controls in 2012
11.03.2013
In order to ensure that the rules on the market of electronic communications and postal services are duly observed, the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) conducted 8,422controls in 2012. Where deviations were found, the ANCOM control personnel sent 218 notifications on the intention to enforce sanctions, transmitted 390 warnings and enforced 42 fines totalising RON 693,000.
3,314 controls - approx. 40% of the total number of control actions - were conducted on the holders of the licences for the use of radio electric frequencies, 2,077 on the radiocommunication providers and 1,237 on the radio and television providers. The irregularities most frequently found during these controls concerned the non-compliance with the provisions under the licences and the authorisations, as well as the improper operation of the radiocommunication stations. The ANCOM control personnel sent 61 notifications on the intention to enforce sanctions, transmitted 136 warnings and enforced 10 fines amounting to RON 86,000.
Approximately one third of the total number of control actions, i.e. 2,934, was conducted on the electronic communications providers: 958 on the Internet providers, 929 on the telephony providers and 1,047 on the audiovisual programme retransmission providers. The controls revealed that certain operators did not observe the obligation to insert the legal minimum requirements in the contracts concluded with the end-users and did not comply with the technical and electromagnetic compatibility requirements imposed on the electronic communications networks by the general authorisation regime. In order to remedy the situation, ANCOM transmitted 157 notifications, which resulted in 156 warnings and 8 fines amounting to RON 244,000.
16% of the controls conducted in 2012 concerned the postal service providers (1,326).578 of these were conducted on the universal service provider in the postal field, i.e. the Romanian Post National Company (CNPR), and resulted in 50 warnings and 2 fines amounting to RON 15,000. ANCOM sent 46 warnings and enforced 22 fines totalising RON 348,000 to the postal providers that breached the legal provisions. The most frequent deficiencies related to the non-compliance with the specific obligations imposed on the universal service provider, in the case of CNPR, respectively the breach of the obligation to inform ANCOM on any change of the data in the notification, in the case of the other postal providers. The most serious deficiencies, which resulted in the largest sanctions, concerned the breach of the reserved rights of the universal service provider.
848 controls were conducted on the manufacturers, importers and distributors of radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment. These controls resulted in 2 warnings for failure to observe the legal provisions in the field.
The amounts gathered from the contravention fines enforced by ANCOM to the legal persons are an integral part of the state budget, and their execution is performed according to the legal provisions on the forced execution of fiscal debts. ANCOM communicates the document enforcing the sanction to the specialised bodies of the Ministry of Public Finances, respectively the National Agency for Fiscal Administration.
As regards the radio spectrum, more than 31,000 monitoring actions were conducted in 2012, following which 243 cases of unauthorised radio-electric broadcastings, as well as breaches of the requirements under the broadcasting licences, operation technical authorisations, licences for the use of frequencies or frequency assignment authorisations were identifiedand, therefore, the necessary steps for the recovery of the lawful status were initiated.
The ANCOM County Offices conducted 1,330 monitoring actions using the spectrum analyzers and the antennas they are endowed with.
Furthermore, the Authority evaluated the 2G/3G signal coverage of 298 cities and more than 90,000 km of road.
“The verification of the extent to which the providers of electronic communications and postal services comply with their legal obligations is meant to ensure the well-functioning of the market. The purpose of the monitoring and control actions is not to sanction the providers but to prevent and discourage possible deviations, the ultimate goal being that of ensuring fair competition and protecting the users’ interests”,the Director of the ANCOM Monitoring and Control Executive Division,Mr. Cristin Popa, said.
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