Press Releases

ANCOM consultã modalitãþile de extindere a valabilitãþii licenþelor de utilizare a spectrului în benzile 900 MHz ºi 1800 MHz

14.07.2011
 
The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has made available to the communications industry and to the wide public a questionnaire concerning the practical means whereby the validity of the rights of Vodafone Romania and Orange Romania to use radio frequencies in the 890 – 915 MHz / 935 – 960 MHz GSM band (the 900 MHz band) and in the 1722.7 MHz – 1747.5 MHz / 1817.7 – 1842.5 MHz band (the 1800 MHz band) may be extended. These rights expire as of 31 December 2011.
ANCOM addresses a series of questions to the providers of electronic communications networks and services and to the users of such services which refer to the duration of the licence validity extension, the options concerning the refarming and allotment of frequencies in the GSM 900 band, the technology used and the requirements for network deployment.
Since the topic of this questionnaire is correlated with the results of the study regarding the impact of the 900 MHz frequency band use for the supply of third generation services, ANCOM presented within the questionnaire the conclusions of the aforementioned document, showing that the impact study will be taken into consideration when elaborating the decision on the extension of the licences. The study shows that RCS&RDS is in a competition disadvantage as opposed to the operators that hold rights to use spectrum in the 900 MHz band and therefore the enforcement of certain remedies is required. The consultant, i.e. OVUM, proposed four remedies:
  • maintain the current status;
  • free a 2x5 MHz block in the 900 MHz band and allot it based on a competition-based process;
  • enforce a regulated temporary national roaming, together with freeing a 2x5 MHz block in the 900 MHz band and allotting it based on a competitive selection procedure, as well as allotting the spectrum in the 800 MHz band with the imposition of a maximum amount of spectrum an operator may hold in bands below 1 GHz;
  • enforce a regulated temporary national roaming, followed by voluntary agreements on network sharing.
The answers to the questionnaire published today will enable ANCOM to find out the opinion of the interested parties with regard to the most suitable remedy and the means for its enforcement. This opinion will be correlated with the decision on the future use of the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands which is to take shape further to the consultation. This decision will need to ensure the continuity of the provision of second generation electronic communications services specific to the GSM systems (mobile telephony, Internet mobile access), the optimum conditions in order to enable the consumers of electronic communications services to benefit without delay from the advantages given by the liberalization of the frequency bands for the provision of third generation broadband electronic communications services (UMTS) and, in perspective, fourth generation services (LTE, WiMAX), as well as flexibility and efficiency in the use of spectrum.
Furthermore, the answers to this questionnaire will be taken into account when drawing up the strategy paper on the introduction of broadband mobile communications services in the 790-862 MHz and 2500-2690 MHz frequency bands correlated with the awarding of the rights to use radio frequencies in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands (including with the extension of the rights to use certain radio frequencies for the operators currently holding licences for the use of frequencies in the respective bands). The aforementioned document is to be submitted, on its turn, to public consultation before being approved.
ANCOM will be expecting the answers of all interested persons until 5 August 2011. These may be sent to the headquarters of the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications in 2 Delea Nouă Street, sector 3, Bucharest or directly submitted to the ANCOM Registry, as well as to the territorial offices in the closest county capital city. The answers may also be sent by fax to +40 372 845 402 or by e-mail to consultare@ancom.org.ro
The questionnaire is available here.
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