Page 155 - SAMENA Trends - February 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Poland’s Office of Electronic Communications (Urzad million (USD116 million). As noted in CommsUpdate
Komunikacji Elektronicznej, UKE) has implemented earlier this month, Orange Polska and P4 (Play)
new regulations aimed at making it easier for cablecos contacted UKE to request that the reserve price for each
to share infrastructure in multi-dwelling residential of the four available licenses be cut to around PLN248
Poland buildings. The regulations, which were first published million. The two operators calculated the lower reserve
price based on similar 5G sales in countries such as
in draft form in May last year, are targeted at cable
operators Netia, UPC Poland, Multimedia Polska, Finland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria,
Vectra, INEA and Toya. UKE says the change will Ireland and the UK. The regulator has also maintained
‘increase competition among operators and facilitate the limit of one 80MHz block per bidder, despite fears
consumer access to telecommunications services’. that this could lead to a block going unsold if one of the
It said under the previous regime infrastructure was country’s four main cellcos opts to withdraw from the
often duplicated because operators were charging their bidding. Meanwhile, UKE is also calling on licensees
rivals high fees for access. (January 30, 2020) commsupdate.com to speed up their network rollouts, giving them four
months instead of the previous six to install at least
Poland’s Office of Electronic Communications (Urzad ten base stations in one nominated city following the
Komunikacji Elektronicznej, UKE) has launched its award of concessions. By the end of 2023 licensees
second round of consultation for the planned award of must have deployed at least 300 base stations
5G spectrum in the 3400MHz-3800MHz band later this (originally 250) and by the end of 2025 the target is now
year. The regulator has ignored calls from operators 700 sites (originally 500).
which wanted the reserve price lowered from PLN450 (January 28, 2020) commsupdate.com

The President of Anacom, Joao Cadete de Matos, • 900MHz; one lot of 2×5MHz (EUR30.00 million per
has sent to the Portuguese government a proposal lot)
to reduce spectrum fees, following demands from • 900MHz; four lots of 2×1MHz (EUR6.00 million per
operators, he said in an interview. The fees amount lot)
Portugal to EUR 44.2 million in annual revenue for the state. • 1800MHz; three lots of 2×5MHz (EUR4.00 million
per lot)
Taking into account that the spectrum held by each
operator will increase after the 5G auction, the telecom • 2100MHz; one lot of 2×5MHz (EUR2.00 million per
operators want a reduction in spectrum rates of at least lot)
50 percent, as happened at the introduction of 4G. The • 2600MHz; two lots of 2×5MHz (EUR3.00 million per
Anacom Chief said the regulator submitted its advice lot)
and it will be up to the government to decide whether • 2600MHz; one lot of 25MHz (EUR3.00 million per lot)
to proceed with an ordinance. The proposal is still for • 3.6GHz (with restrictions until 2025); six lots of
several tens of millions of euros in annual fees, Cadete 10MHz (EUR840,000 per lot)
de Matos said. (February 17, 2020) Jornal de Negocios • 3.6GHz (with restrictions until 2025); four lots of
10MHz (EUR940,000 per lot)
The National Communications Authority (ANACOM) • 3.6GHz (no restrictions); 30 lots of 10MHz (EUR1.23
has approved the draft rules for its upcoming 5G million per lot).
multi-band spectrum auction. The 5G auction, which ANACOM notes that the prices for the 700MHz and
is earmarked to take place in 2Q20, will comprise 3.6GHz bands have been fixed with reference to the
700MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 2600MHz and average reserve prices that have featured in European
3.6GHz spectrum. The reserve prices have been set as 5G auctions since 2018. These prices were adjusted
follows: considering the size of the Portuguese population,
• 700MHz; six lots of 2×5MHz (EUR19.20 million purchasing power parities and the duration of frequency
[USD20.9 million] per lot) usage rights. (February 13, 2020) commsupdate.com

Romania’s Competition Council has fined NetCity basis to all telecom operators wishing to provide
Telecom, the company that builds and operates a services in Bucharest. In a statement, Bogdan Chiritoiu,
shared open access underground fiber-optic network President of the Competition Council, said he hoped the
in Bucharest, a total of RON2.18 million (USD504,000) case would serve was a warning to operators of similar
Romania for abuse of its dominant position. The investigation networks in several other Romanian cities. At the end of
June 2019, NetCity had built 1,520km of underground
opened in April 2019 determined that between 2010
and 2019 NetCity failed to make its infrastructure infrastructure and connected 20,300 buildings.
available on a transparent and non-discriminatory (February 3, 2020) commsupdate.com

155 FEBRUARY 2020