Siemens Romania 'prepared for 3G'

Siemens Mobile Romania is ready to launch the next generation mobile telephony network (3G) in Romania, company officials told Ziarul Financiar. They added that the only obstacle in this regard was the granting of the much-awaited licences for the frequency band used by this communication system.

“We are ready for 3G, we even have a project running at the moment. It is all down to the licences,” stated Marius Georgescu, Siemens Mobile Romania’s director of marketing and business development. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology set a price of 35 million euros for a 3G licence. “Romanians are receptive to new technologies and are willing to use the latest means of communication,” said Dieter Johannes Arngerer, the manager of the Bucharest branch of the German telecom equipment producer.

“We hope to see the system operational as soon as possible,” Marius Georgescu said. Siemens Mobile has the necessary 3G specialists in Romania, as well as the staff capable of servicing and maintaining such a complex system, he added. The team comprises about 50 people, but there’s also the software development centre in Brasov, which is of great importance, employing 150 specialists. They even provide international support services for Siemens’ clients.

The awarding of the 3G licences has been expected since last year, though no one knows when it will actually take place. The main mobile telephony operators (Connex and Orange) have expressed interest in this regard. The general elections, or more precisely, the Romanian Government’s need for cash in an election year, could mean that these licences will be awarded by yearend. Market sources have suggested that this might be done after the situation of mobile telephony operator CosmoRom, now in dire straits, is cleared up.

The 3G system, on which the major mobile telephony operators worldwide have been spending billions of dollars since 2000, was launched in Japan in 2002 and in Europe and Australia last year.
dan.dragomir@zf.ro