“The auction specifications will state a starting price for the auction, determined according to the Romanian telecom market’s situation. The final price of a 4G license will be set through the competitive selection process. The licenses will be for frequency bands 800-900 MHz and 2.6 GHz,” said Marinescu.
ANCOM has already awarded the first experimental license for the testing of 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) communication services to Orange Romania and Alcatel- Lucent Romania. The 4G frequency bands are currently occupied, but the regulator is in advanced talks with the Ministry of Interior to free up the spectrum.
4G technology will allow data transfer at speeds of up to 100 MB/s. By comparison, the local mobile operators’ current networks allow speeds of up to 21.6 MB/s.
Thanks to the higher transfer speed, operators will be able to provide high-definition video streaming services, HD video surveillance, HD videoconferences, online games, broadband Internet access and media portal applications. The technology will also allow operators to cope with the rising mobile data traffic and lower their operational costs. In 2010, the number of mobile broadband users exceeded that of landline users.