European Commission: Romania's Internet development strategies are still on paper

Romania, which has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the European Union (EU), a year ago adopted a strategy to support development of this market sector, partly with the aid of European funds, but the Government has yet to take concrete steps towards implementation of the document, according to a European Commission report.

“Increasing broadband penetration rate in Romania was announced as a priority by the MCSI (Ministry of Communications and Informational Society) and the (telecom) regulator. On 8th of April, the Government approved the Broadband Strategy for 2009-2015, which is a first step towards a comprehensive approach on the development of broadband in Romania. The working group, which should establish the concrete measures to implement the ambitious targets proposed (such as 100% population coverage by 2015) is not yet operational,” the report says.

The document also notes that the Government earmarked 65 million euros’ worth of European funds, which are available until 2015 to expand broadband in Romania, but that Romania’s approach to implementing this project is not clear yet and consultation with the European Commission is under way.