At least $1bn for new operators

Telephony operators planning to purchase a national hardline telephony licence will have to make at least $1bn in investment to develop the network, IT&C minister Dan Nica said at the end of last week.

“The benchmark price of the licences is still under consideration, as we still have to set it,” Nica said. Another requirement for the operators to get a licence is to guarantee they would cover a specific percentage of the Romanian territory, says Nica.

The minister feels auctioneering two hardline telephony licences will make the companies dealing in fixed communications more competitive the moment the market becomes deregulated in 2003, which will implicitly lead to tariff cuts and enhanced service quality, as it was the case for mobile telephony.

The Government is methodologically ready to auction two fixed telephony and four 3G telephony licences this fall. “It is important that we succeed in implementing 3G communications networks, to be able to provide users with quick cheap access to information,” Nica said.

The costs of building a national 3G network amount to more than $500 million, licence purchase costs exclusive. As for hardline telephony, RomTelecom is currently the monopoly holder, until January 1, 2003, under the privatisation contract.

3G telecommunications reunite traditional telecommunications, IT, media, as well as equipment makers, with the European telecommunications companies having invested over 120bn euros in those licences. Mediafax