The prices of a license is estimated to be below EUR3 million, according to ANCOM.
The decision to postpone the process was made following consultations with the public and approved Friday by industry officials in a meeting of ANCOM’s Consultative Council. The meeting discussed the strategy for the implementation and development of Broadband Wireless Access systems in the 3.4-3.8 GHz band, in the period 2011-2020.
“Following the consultation, ANCOM has decided to start the comparative selection process for national licenses for the 3,410-3,800 MHz band in 2014, instead of 2012 as suggested initially,” says a press release.
The comparative selection procedure will take place in two stages: one during which bidders are expected to send letters of intent, and the selection proper, which will occur if the number of bidders is higher than the number of licenses available. If the number of bidders is lower or equal to the number of licenses available, licenses will be awarded directly.
Local licenses will also be awarded in 2014, when ANCOM will use the comparative selection procedure to award licenses for the use of public radio frequencies and broadband electronic communications to each county.
Both national and local licenses will be granted for ten years and will have minimal coverage requirements.
ANCOM has decided to extend the validity of national licenses for radio frequencies in the 3.4-3.8 GHz spectrum until December 31, 2015.
Following consultations with the public, the regulator has determined that additional analyses and discussions are necessary before any decision is made regarding the strategy’s technical aspects.
Once these issues are cleared up, the strategy will be revised and put through a new public consultation procedure, when discussions will exclusively concern issues related to the new channel arrangement that will be adopted by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) and Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) for the 3.4 GHz-3.8 GHz band, including the number of licenses to be awarded, the reorganization of the frequency band and maximum limit on the amount of radio spectrum that may be owned by each operator licensed on the band in question, the press release says.
These conditions should prevent waste and the excessive fragmentation of radio spectrum allowances, ensure technological neutrality and possibly attract competitors with the financial, technical and administrative means to use the bands’ potential to the fullest.
Romania currently has seven providers operating in the 3,410 – 3,600 MHz (3.5 GHz) bands, of which five have national licenses (Orange Romania, Vodafone Romania, UPC Romania, Idilis and AccessNet) and two have local licenses for radio data transmission through fixed wireless access (FWA) networks, while a single provider, Romania’s National Radiocommunications Company, operates in the 3,600 – 3,800 MHz (3.7 GHz) bands and has a national license for broadband wireless access (BWA), according to the regulator.
All licenses are set to expire at the end of September 2013, except for local licenses for the 3,410 – 3,600 MHz bands, which expire in June 2011, August 2011, January 2015 and December 2015, and the license for the 3,600 – 3,800 MHz bands, which is set to expire in July 2011.