Romanian telecoms regulator ANCOM has received five applications to participate in the spectrum auction set for launch on 10 September.
The names of the interested parties were not disclosed, but Romania’s five largest operators are France…
Romanian telecoms regulator ANCOM has received five applications to participate in the spectrum auction set for launch on 10 September.
The names of the interested parties were not disclosed, but Romania’s five largest operators are France Telecom-owned Orange, Vodafone, OTE and Romtelecom-owned Cosmote, RCS&RDS-owned Digi.Mobil and OTE and Deutsche Telekom-owned Romtelecom.
ANCOM’s auction commission is expected to announce the names of qualifying participants by 20 August, after it has evaluated submitted application files. Operators must meet a range of criteria, including an average turnover of at least €10m for the past three years.
The regulator officially launched the tender process for spectrum in the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2600MHz bands on 4 July. If demand for spectrum exceeds the amount offered, first-round bidding will begin on 10 September. The length of the auction will depend upon the number of bidding rounds to take place, but ANCOM said the final results will most likely be announced in October. If demand equals the amount of spectrum offered, participants will bid directly for positioning within the band.
Both short and long-term licences in the 2013-2029 timeframe are up for grabs. For the 15-year, long-term licences – valid from 6 April 2014 until 2029 – the regulator will auction 42 paired blocks of 5MHz each: six in the 800MHz band, seven in the 900MHz band, 15 in the 1800MHz band and 14 in the 2600MHz band. There will also be three unpaired blocks of 15MHz each in the 2600MHz band. For the 15-month, short-term licences – 10 paired blocks of 2.5MHz will be auctioned in the 900MHz band and six paired blocks of 5MHz in the 1800MHz band – spectrum currently used by Orange and Vodafone.
