ANCOM

Roaming and calls between Romania and the Republic of Moldova

            

 

The high tariffs of the roaming and telephone calls services between Romania and the Republic of Moldova discourage the communication between the users of electronic communications services from the two countries. 

The Roam like at home (RLAH) obligations applicable in the European Economic Area cannot be extended at present to the Republic of Moldova, but this should not prevent the operators from the two states to offer their customers mutual roaming and bilateral calls, at domestic tariffs or as close as possible to this level.

Under the Agreement (English version) signed between Romania and the Republic of Moldova on 11 February 2022, ANCOM and ANRCETI are responsible for taking the necessary measures for reducing the tariffs, monitoring and reporting the evolutions registered.

 

 

 

 

Acts and facts for reducing the tariffs with the Republic of Moldova

26 October 2023 Starting with January 1, 2024, reciprocity for call termination enters into force, between all operators in the Republic of Moldova and all operators in the EU Member States. ”Euro-rates” as per Delegated Regulation n. 2021/654/2020 apply.

 

4 August 2023 WARNING! In the context of the holiday period, ANCOM recommends that users planning trips to the Republic of Moldova check their provider’s tariffs for roaming internet in the neighbouring country, before relying heavily on this service during the trip. Although the vast majority of tariff plans offered by Romanian operators for roaming internet in the Republic of Moldova feature low, competitive tariffs, some customers with older contracts or tariff plans that have not been updated may be exposed to high costs, similar to the standard rates from previous yearsSuch situations can be avoided by updating the subscription contracts signed before 12 July 2019 or by activating, before the trip, an extra-option with very low internet prices for the Republic of Moldova, such extra-options being applicable for both subscriptions and prepaid cards.

 

7 July 2023 ANCOM and ANRCETI publish the second joint monitoring report. (full text - pdf)

 

29 November 2022 The implementation of the Agreement on the reduction of roaming tariffs between Romania and the Republic of Moldova - the main topic on the agenda of the meetings between ANCOM, ANRCETI and the Government of the Republic of Moldova.

 

8 July 2022 ANCOM and ANRCETI publish the first joint monitoring report. (full text in Romanian - pdf)

24 June 2022 The two regulators (ANCOM and ANRCETI) send the operators from the two states a joint questionnaire on monitoring the effects of the Agreement. The effects of the Agreement on the traffic, the number of customers, the balance sheets, the wholesale prices, but especially the retail prices will be monitored and reported every three months. 

 

19 May 2022 Calls to the Republic of Moldova included in the national benefits for the prepaid cards, as well as other offers announced by Vodafone Romania.

 

April – May 2022 New terms for the provision of wholesale services in the new/revised interconnection agreements between the operators from Romania and those from the Republic of Moldova.

 

6 April 2022 ANCOM requests the operators from Romania to reduce the tariffs. (full text in Romanian - pdf)

 

31 March 2022 ANRCETI adopts tariff regulations in accordance with the Delegated Regulation no. 654/2021 (which completes Directive (EU) 2018/1972). The decisions of the ANRCETI Management Board no. 8 – 31 of 31 March 2022, published on the regulator’s website, www.anrceti.md, under section Legislation.

 

25 March 2022 The Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of the Republic of Moldova on services of roaming and calls between the two states comes into force (Excerpt from the Official Journal, full text in English)

 

22 March 2022 The first extra-options with roaming GB internet in Moldova (EUR 6) appear in the offer of Orange Romania.

 

February 2022 Standard tariff of 5 eurocents/MB, for roaming internet in the Republic of Moldova for prepaid cards in the offer of Vodafone Romania.

 

11 February 2022 The Agreement on the reduction of the tariffs for the provision of international roaming and international calls services between Romania and the Republic of Moldova was signed during the joint session of the governments of the two states. ANCOM and ANRCETI support the implementation of the Government Agreement signed between the two countries.