Speaking Tuesday at ZF Digital ’12, an event organized by Ziarul Financiar, Marinescu said the fact that the local telecom operators participated in ANCOM’s auction to award mobile telephony licenses and also decided to pay for the licenses means they had made some calculations and thought the price was worthwhile. He added they even said the auction was fair and were very pleased with its outcome.
Following ANCOM’s auction ended on September 24, telecom operators Cosmote, Orange, RCS&RDS, Vodafone and 2K Telecom will pay EUR682.14 million for mobile telephony licenses in frequency bands 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.800 MHz and 2.600 MHz. Vodafone Romania will pay EUR228.52 million, Orange Romania will pay EUR227.14 million, Cosmote Romania will pay EUR179.88 million, RCS&RDS will pay EUR40 million and 2K Telecom will pay EUR6.6 million.
Marinescu also said Tuesday the recent auction has managed to stiffen the competition and telecom companies on the local market are now able to compete equally and fairly.
Marinescu sees Romania’s telecom market flat on the year at EUR3.5 billion in 2012, while for 2013, he estimates it will post growth depending on telecom companies’ investments. ANCOM data indicate the local telecom market was slightly down in 2011, to EUR3.5 billion, from EUR3.6 billion in 2010.
The largest telecom companies on the local market are Orange, Vodafone, Romtelecom and RCS&RDS.