Romania saw a setback with its telecoms regulator stating it would be impossible to issue interested parties 5G licences, at a scheduled auction in the fourth quarter of this year.
Eduard Lovin, VP of the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), said at an industry conference the planned auction could be pushed back until 2021, reported TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate.
Lovin explained the government had not yet finalised and publish the needed legislation in the official gazette, for which ANCOM must analyse and adjust auction terms if needed. Any changes will be subject to a public consultation which could take up to 30 days.
The executive noted although commercial 5G services are available now in Romania, he labelled them as demonstrative services that do not fulfil the true reach of 5G, reported newspaper Bursa.
Orange Romania was the first operator to launch 5G services in November 2019, initially connecting the country’s main cities – Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Iasi. The network had since expanded to Timisoara, Brasov, Constanta and Mamaia.
ANCOM previously indicated it would hold an auction in Q1 this year but this was postponed due to a memorandum signed by Romania and the US for the development of safe 5G technologies, to safeguard nations from high–risk suppliers.