The impact of telecom market regulator ANCOM’s proposition to lower termination rates is estimated at about EUR200 million for all mobile operators present locally, Vodafone Romania general manager Inaki Berroeta said at a news conference Thursday.
Speaking at the same conference, Orange Romania general manager Jean-Francois Fallacher said that cutting termination rates also means subsidizing operators outside Romania.
“Local operators will subsidize those in Germany and other EU countries, as well as those outside the EU because of the difference between termination rates in Romania, which are lower, and those in other countries, which are higher,” Fallacher added.
Nikolai Beckers, head of Cosmote Romania and Romtelecom, said investments in extending the 4G network in the next years is estimated at about EUR300 million.
Adding the EUR200 million, the total sum is EUR500 million, which must be covered somehow, Beckers added.
One option would be increasing tariffs for end users, a measure the local market will not agree to, he said, adding that mobile operators and ANCOM must reach a compromise as investments must continue.
According to Fallacher, the Romanian telecom market, estimated at EUR3 billion, will lose about 8% in value following the implementation of the measure.
Lowering termination rates will also reduce the state budget’s revenues from VAT and other taxes, according to KMPG Romania representative Ciprian Negura.
At the end of August, ANCOM said it would propose reducing termination charges starting January 1, 2014 from EUR0.307/minute to EUR0.086/minute for mobile calls and from EUR0.067/minute to EUR0.015/minute for landline calls.