Page 91 - SAMENA Trends - December 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

The National Authority for Management and Regulation Directive on the establishment of the EECC into the
in Communications (ANCOM) has announced that the primary legislation, ANCOM intends to review the
EC has raised no objections to its view that the wholesale regulations regarding the general authorization
markets for broadband internet access services at regime for the provision of electronic communications
Romania a fixed location require no regulatory intervention. networks and services, the procedure for granting
radio frequency usage rights, the management and
The regulator’s position was based on an analysis of
market developments between 2015 and 2019 that administration of numbering resources, regulations
concluded the market for fixed broadband internet regarding communications to the Single National
access services remains competitive, with no specific Emergency Call System, as well as security measures
regulation required for the upstream wholesale market to be taken by providers and the reporting of incidents
and insignificant use of the local loop. Thus, ANCOM’s with a significant impact in networks and services.
conclusion was that no regulations are required in 5G Spectrum Management
the markets for local access at a fixed location and, By the end of Q1 2021 ANCOM intends to adopt a
respectively, in the market for central access provided decision on the procedure and rules for granting
at a fixed location for mass-market products. The EC spectrum usage rights in the 700MHz, 800MHz,
indicated ANCOM will need to permanently monitor the 1500MHz, 2600MHz and 3400MHz-3800MHz
retail market for broadband internet access services, frequency bands. The auction, which was originally
in order to intervene with ex-ante regulatory matters planned for Q2 2019 but delayed to give the government
in the event of a significant changes in the market and time to establish network security requirements and
its competitive landscape. The Authority will therefore approve license fees and payment conditions, is now
monitor market developments, particularly regarding scheduled to take place in Q2 2021.
internet access services with speeds above 100Mbps. Implementation of Law No, 159/2016
ANCOM will also pay special attention to geographical To further implement the Infrastructure Law, in the first
variations in operators’ pricing strategies, in order part of next year the authority plans to set indicative
to assess the need to define relevant sub-national tariffs for access to the passive infrastructure of
markets, while it will monitor potentially significant network operators, with the aim of supporting the
changes that would require a more detailed definition development of broadband networks and the physical
of the product market, particularly the ability of rival infrastructure elements necessary to support them.
operators to compete effectively with RCS&RDS in the ANCOM intends to build an inventory of public
high-speed internet access service segments. electronic communications networks and the
(December 17, 2020) commsupdate.com associated physical infrastructure elements (ATLAS
Project), which will largely rely on data received from
The National Authority for Management and Regulation network operators. The regulator will also analyze the
in Communications (ANCOM) has published its 2021 conditions for access to the physical infrastructure
Action Plan for public consultation. Among the major built with the participation or support of the central
projects scheduled for next year are the 5G spectrum or local public administration authorities or financed,
auction in the second quarter, the transposition into totally or partially, from public funds.
secondary legislation of the European Electronic Regulation of Electronic Communications Services
Communications Code (EECC), the implementation of In addition to transposing the EECC into the secondary
the Infrastructure Law, and the revision of the legislative legislation, ANCOM plans to review the wholesale
framework regulating electronic communication market for high-quality access services provided at
services. Interested parties are invited to submit their a fixed location to reassess the need for regulatory
comments and suggestions by 4 January 2021. measures. It will also re-assess the collection
Transposition of the EECC and use of statistical data in the field of electronic
Following the transposition of provisions of the communications. (December 8, 2020) commsupdate.com

Six telecommunications companies submitted An application from Women Building a Better Society
applications in response to the invitation to apply reached the authority after the cut-off time and it
for access to South Africa’s International Mobile wasn’t accepted. ICASA has made available the IMT
Telecommunications spectrum, the Independent spectrum bands in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 2600MHz,
South Africa Communications Authority of South Africa said. and 3500MHz bands. The regulator intends to conduct
an auction for the licensing of high demand spectrum
Submissions were received from MTN Group Ltd.,
Vodacom Group Ltd., Telkom SA SOC Ltd., Cell C by no later than March 31, it said.
Pty Ltd., Rain Networks and Liquid Telecoms South (December 29, 2020) bnnbloomberg.ca
Africa Ltd., ICASA said in a statement on its website.

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