04.12.2019

From 1 January 2020, mobile telephony operators on the Romanian market will charge a mobile call termination rate of maximum 0.76 eurocents/minute, down 10% from the currently in force maximum rate of 0.84 eurocents/minute. Having been consulted with the industry in Romania, this regulatory measure has recently been agreed by the European Commission.

Setting this maximum rate at 0.76 eurocents/minute is a transitional measure, until the adoption of a single maximum Union-wide voice termination rate for mobile services, which is to be completed by the end of 2020.

The maximum mobile call termination rate

The new rate will be charged by all the mobile telephony operators designated as having significant power in the market for mobile call termination on their own networks - Lycamobile S.R.L., Orange Romania S.A., Vodafone Romania S.A., RCS&RDS S.A. and Telekom Romanian Mobile Communications S.A.

The 0.76 eurocents/minute rate has been determined by European benchmark, as an average of the mobile call termination rates in the Member States of the European Union, based on a pure LRIC model. According to the provisions of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, which entered into force on 20 December 2018, by 31 december 2020, a single maximum voice termination rate for mobile services and a single maximum voice termination rate for fixed services (together referred to as ‘the Union-wide voice termination rates’) will apply across the Union.

Applicability of the new maximum rate

The rate proposed by ANCOM will apply for domestic calls, for calls initiated in the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as for those initiated outside the EEA, where the international agreements in force do not provide for a different charging regime.

Entry into force

ANCOM’s measures on setting the maximum mobile call termination rate were consulted at national level during August-September 2019, agreed with the industry in October and notified to the European Commission, BEREC and the national regulatory authorities in the other Member States. On 15 November 2019, the European Commission informed ANCOM that it has no comments on the proposed measure. Following the process of national and European consultation, ANCOM communicated the decisions to the providers at the end of November. The decisions are available on ANCOM’s website, in Romanian, here.