14.01.2014

 

The Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) is running a public consultation concerning the clarification of certain legal provisions and amendment of certain radio spectrum charging principles.  

 

According to the document submitted to public consultation, ANCOM proposes to clarify the rules applicable to the annual payment of the tariff for the use of the radio spectrum. Thus, the tariff is due to be paid annually where the value of the tariff which would be charged based upon a licence for an entire year does not exceed the amount of 200 euros on the reference date, that is 1 March of every year for the licences in force on this date, or the last working day of the quarter when the licence was issued, if this was issued after 1 March.

 

As well, ANCOM proposes to amend the provisions regulating the payment of the tariff where the technical conditions in the allotment/assignment documents have changed. In this case, ANCOM suggests calculating also the quarterly tariff based on the allotment/assignment documents in force, meaning that the tariff corresponding to the new technical conditions will be taken into consideration when individualising the payment obligation starting the month that follows the amendment month.

 

One last amendment submitted to public consultation concerns the regulation of the tariff for the fixed wireless access (FWA) point-multipoint public networks in the24.5-26.5 GHz band. In this sense, ANCOM proposes to adjust the tariff for the 24.5-26.5 GHz band so as to reflect the approach described in the Position Paper on the national use of the radio spectrum in the 24.5-25.5 GHz / 25.5-26.5 GHz frequency bands, a document which eliminates the possibility of allotting channels at county level.

 

The use of the radio frequencies is allowed only upon obtaining a licence, an administrative act that describes the legal, technical and operational conditions for the use of the radio spectrum resource, and the spectrum tariffs represent a mechanism meant to determine an effective and efficient use of the rights awarded under the licences.

 

The draft decision submitted to public consultation is available here. The interested persons are invited to send their comments and suggestions, by 23.01.2014, to the ANCOM headquarters in 2 Delea Noua Street, Bucharest 3, or directly to the ANCOM Registry Office or to the Authority’s regional divisions. Comments may also be sent by fax to +40 372 845 402 or by e-mail to consultare@ancom.org.ro.