The end of last year brought the real deregulation on the fixed telephony market in Romania. A decision that attracted little attention was issued by the National Communications Regulatory Authority (ANRC) and forces RomTelecom to make its local loop infrastructure available to other operators. In other words, RomTelecom must allow access to the wires that connect phone lines to the user’s phone.
The deregulation of the local loop, which comes two years after deregulation of the market, allows telephony and data transmission providers to reach potential clients by using the copper wires of the former monopoly national operator. The main objection of the market to the deregulation carried out two years ago was that no matter how state-of-the-art the operators’ networks were, they still had no access to people’s homes.
In exchange for the use of the copper wires, alternative operators will bear part of the maintenance costs for this infrastructure, the ANRC decided.
Other national fixed telephony providers see the new regulation as a business opportunity. “If there are technical conditions and co-operation from RomTelecom, then this is one step towards the growth of the fixed telephony market in Romania,” said Dinu Malacopol, the Internet and Data director of Astral Telecom. “Astral intends to penetrate those markets where it does not have access infrastructure,” Malacopol added.
According to main market players, the biggest opportunity that arises from the new regulation for telecommunications companies is provided by data transmission and communications services provided to corporate clients. RomTelecom’s copper cables are a very good medium for high-speed Internet access, an opportunity the former monopoly company had insufficiently capitalised on. “Even voice can be conveyed via ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), yet the core business and the growth will be based on the high speed Internet access,” Dinu Malacopol told Ziarul Financiar.
In light of developments in mobile communications, home users of fixed telephony are no longer the target of choice for the providers of these services. As a result, not every company cares much about the deregulation of the local loop.
“Access to the local loop is a natural step, in line with the European legislation in the field. UPC sees no potential interest for RomTelecom’s infrastructure in the near future,” said Richard Anderson, Managing Director of UPC Romania, the third leading cable TV operator in Romania.