Page 14 - bne_Tech_09_2020

Telecom
September 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
Romania unlikely to award 5G licenses this year
Romania will be unable to award the first 5G licenses before the end of this year even if the government publishes the documents that the telecom regulatory body ANCOM has been waiting for to initiate the auction in the Official Journal next week, ANCOM deputy head Eduard Lovin said at a conference.
At the same time, the draft law on 5G, including the provisions regulating the use of “safe technology” (broadly understood as no Huawei technology) is the subject of heated, but not necessarily open and transparent, debate.
The impact on the budget generated by the delays in the award of the 5G licenses is significant.
Under the budget revision drafted by the finance ministry in August, the government is relying on RON2.5bn (€515mn, 0.25% of GDP) revenues from telecom groups for the 5G licenses.
"Our efforts to provide the additional 350 MHz
of spectrum (for 5G services) have been delayed due to the lack of a government decision setting the minimum starting prices, as well as the lack of a document clarifying and transposing the government memorandum on the security of 5G networks," ANCOM’s Lovin explained.
Nonetheless, not only the 5G services and the budget revenues are at stake, but also the smooth
functioning of the telecom networks as they are now, the ANCOM official implied.
He argued that Romanian telecom operators need additional spectrum even if they do not develop applications based on the 5G technology.
"Mobile internet traffic has been doubling in Romania every year, over the last three or four years. Additional spectrum is needed even without 5G ... the four mobile networks in Romania currently use [frequency bands with a total width of] 770 MHz to provide services," he said.
However, 5G has also become a hot political issue as the US has been pressing for Chinese group Huawei to be eliminated from the development
of 5G networks in Europe, including Romania.
The US and Romanian governments signed
a memorandum of understanding on the development of 5G technology in August 2019 in Washington.
This document sketches several principles for selecting safe providers of 5G technology. The new US ambassador to Romania has repeatedly warned against using Huawei as a 5G technology provider. Meanwhile, the Chinese group argues that its elimination from this process would result in higher service costs.