Romania, the first South Eastern European country to launch a 5G auction

The National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) launches the public consultation on the need and opportunity to organise a competitive selection procedure with a view to awarding the rights of spectrum use in the new frequency bands harmonised on European level for broadband mobile communications systems.

“I would like to see all big cities in Romania covered with 5G services within 5 years’ time, and today ANCOM is taking the first step towards this new industrial revolution and the digital transformation of the Romanian economy and society. Again, we could be among the first countries in the EU initiating such an auction, and for sure the first in Eastern Europe, as we were in 2012, when ANCOM organised a premiere spectrum auction in this part of our continent,” Adrian Dita, ANCOM’s President, stated as a press release informs.

The bands under public consultation contribute to ensuring spectrum resources needed for the efficient development of communications services in the context of the rampant mobile internet consumption, as well as the implementation of new generation technologies, also known as 5G or IMT-2020.

These new communications technologies will enable us to connect all intelligent objects to be used in the future: smart cities, smart homes, self-driving cars, digital public services for citizens and companies. The key to all these is ubiquitous, super-high speed and massive capacity radio – i.e. wireless – communications, available for a huge density of users.

“Taking into account the importance of the limited spectrum resource available, the impact of the decision on the future use of these frequency bands, as well as its effect on the Romanian electronic communications market, ANCOM deems necessary to consult all the interested parties, in order to ensure a transparent and fair decisional process, and the predictability of the adopted measures,” the release reads.

The questionnaire published on the ANCOM’s website is aimed at obtaining information from the market players as regards their interest in acquiring new rights of use and in using these bands, and also regarding the period when this auction is considered to be timely.

Moreover, by opening a dialogue with the interested stakeholders, the Authority aims to clarify a series of technical and economic aspects regarding the access in these frequency bands, as well as some elements that could influence results, such as the selection procedure design, the frequency bands auctioned together, the optimum spectrum amounts available to be acquired by one operator and certain obligations included in licences.