Opinions will be presented in a conference organized by an association consisting of the largest mobile telephony operators on the market (Orange, Vodafone, and Cosmote), with the speakers to include representatives of the Communications Ministry, the telecom arbiter and the Competition Council. Never in the past few years have the three operators put more effort organizing a joint event attended by top-ranking executives from the management of the three groups.
Romanian company RCS&RDS, which is not part of the association and has different interests from Orange, Vodafone, and Cosmote, will not attend the conference.
What are the messages that the three giants will send to the Romanian state, probably in a veiled manner? The main message will probably be related to the price of the licenses, with the operators to argue in favor of the lowest price possible, considering the high cost that the subsequent development of the 4G networks will entail and the low fees charged on the Romanian market.
Both Catalin Marinescu, president of the telecom arbiter, and officials of the Communications Ministry have so far declined to give details on the amounts the state expects to collect from the auction, but information floating around on the market suggests the amount is around half a billion euros.
Another hot topic is how much the Romanian state will encourage an operator from outside the market to compete for a license. This auction organized by the Romanian government would be the cheapest way for a foreign operator to enter the Romanian market. Marius Fecioru, secretary of state in the Communications Ministry, said he has had talks at the Mobile Telephony Congress in Barcelona with “China Mobile, AT&T, M3 Group and Telenor,” who showed an interest in entering the Romanian market.”
It would be interesting to see what provisions the telecommunications arbiter will introduce in the tender documents if a foreign operator were to win the frequency of an existing operator: would the regulator force the winner to buy the network, take over the stores, dealers and employees of the losing party? And at what price? Would the terms be likely to encourage or to discourage such a situation?
Representatives of Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Vodafone Group could send a veiled message to the state, saying that they have been present on the Romanian market for a long time and the investments and jobs they have created since 1996 should not be brushed aside.
What will be sold in the tender? Firstly the 900 MHz band licenses of Orange, Vodafone, and Cosmote, whose validity expires. Secondly the licenses for a radio spectrum currently used by the Military, and which, once freed, could be used to provide high-speed 4G internet.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)