Romania Allows 3G Services on GSM Frecquencies

Romania's telecoms regulator ANCOM (National Communications Authority) announced recently that it had completed technical and administrative measures for a legal instrument that would offer wireless carriers in the country the possibility to use 3G services in the traditional GSM bands. Following the announcement, Orange Romania, Vodafone Romania and Cosmote Romania will be able to deliver 3G services on GSM 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequencies.

However, ANCOM also revealed that mobile phone carriers in the country would be able to provide 3G services on these bands only after they amended their licenses in compliance with a series of obligations, such as the continuity in providing the 2G services like voice. At the same time, carriers will also have to ensure the protection of the GSM systems that will continue to work on the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands, not to mention that they will have to provide protection of the telecommunications systems existing in the adjacent bands.

ANCOM hasn't announced yet when the decision becomes effective, but it seems that all three active wireless services providers in the country, including Orange Romania, Vodafone Romania and Cosmote Romania will have the possibility to provide to their users 3G services based on the new licenses. The Authority also stated that the 2G licenses Orange Romania şi Vodafone Romania had at the moment would expire in 2011, while Cosmote Romania, will expire in 2014, and that the new decision is based on directives the European Commission adopted last year.

“This measure comes as a result of the regulatory authority's declared intention to promote the development of broadband electronic communications in Romania. Together with the CDMA licence granted by ANCOM in 2008 and the future review of the local loop usage regime, the liberalisation of the frequency spectrum in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands could contribute to increasing the penetration of broadband Internet access,” Catalin Marinescu, the president of ANCOM, stated.