19.12.2016

 

The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications of Romania (ANCOM) debated and adopted, in Consultative Council, its 2017 Action Plan. Among the most important 2017 projects, we count actions for the effective enforcement of the new Infrastructure Law – Law 159/2016, aimed at reducing the costs of installing broadband networks in Romania. The Action Plan is available – in Romanian - here.

Law no. 159/2016 on the regime of physical infrastructure of electronic communications networks

In 2017, ANCOM will continue carrying out the national inventory of public electronic communications networks and of the associated infrastructure elements, will establish a one-stop information point on the location, track, type and current use of physical infrastructures, will establish the maximum tariffs for exercising the right of access on public property, will assess the costs of physical infrastructures for the purpose of setting indicative access tariffs for certain physical infrastructure categories, and – together with MCSI and MDRAP will lay down and publish the technical rules on designing and rolling out physical and electronic communications network infrastructures.  

Regulation of electronic communications services

With a view to increasing the competitiveness of access to communications networks, in 2017 ANCOM will review the relevant markets for the services of broadcasting, in analogue format, public television and radio programmes using signals relayed through terrestrial systems, will review the tariffs for interconnection-related services provided at an interconnection point and establish the harmonised technical requirements associated with IP-based interconnection, for the provision of the call termination service. Moreover, in order to stimulate service demand, the Authority will assess the need and the opportunity to reduce the level of the porting fee.

More radio spectrum resources for electronic communications

ANCOM will organize a public consultation on awarding additional spectrum resources for broadband communications in the 450 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2600 MHz and 3.4 – 3.8 GHz, with a view to enhancing the efficient rollout of networks, given the upsurge in mobile internet consumption.

Besides a new auction for awarding national, regional and local digital terrestrial television multiplexes, in 2017, the Authority will assess compliance with the coverage obligations specified in the licences for the multiplexes awarded in previous auctions.

Next year, the Authority will launch a public consultation on the amateur service in emergency situations, by which the Authority will identify general principles and specific methods for ensuring the procedural support for managing the radio spectrum in order to uphold the radio amateur activities dedicated to the provision of emergency communications. 

Postal services regulation

Concerning the postal services market, the Authority is planning a number of actions that envisage access to CNPR’s public postal network, and the access costs for alternative providers, as well as CNPR’s activity in its capacity as a universal service provider.

Monitoring and control

Among the monitoring and control campaigns the Authority will carry out next year, we count a campaign for determining mobile telephony signal coverage of national and county roads, a campaign of verifying compliance obligations by operators that provide prepaid publicly available electronic communications services, as well as a campaign of verifying compliance with the minimum obligations that providers of electronic communications services should incorporate in contracts with the end-users.