Page 179 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2022

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

proposal, P4, trading under the Play brand, will pay PLN the license for Play will be valid longer by one day, and
351.6 million; Orange Poland and Polkomtel, trading T-Mobile Poland submitted its application on the issue
under the Plus brand, will spend PLN 351.6 million in 2020. All the operators currently own 2x14.8 MHz
each; and T-Mobile Poland will pay PLN 340.0 million. blocks in this spectrum band, which is used for 5G, LTE
The licenses will be valid until the end of 2037. The and UMTS technologies.
difference in the amounts is caused by the fact that (September 12, 2022) www.telecompaper.com`

Romania’s Competition Council has announced that guarantees’) regarding license payments following
it will investigate the proposed takeover of telecom requests from Orange and Telekom Romania Mobile. In
provider iNES Group by Cloudsys Telecom. In a another noteworthy concession, requested by Orange
statement, the antitrust body said it will consider the and Vodafone, ANCOM’s latest draft plan stated that
Romania transaction in accordance with the provisions of the the mandatory number of covered localities under the
1996 Competition Law and invite comments from all
new licenses will be reduced. The ANCOM previously
interested parties by 17 October. Founded in 1995, proposed that the winning bidders ensure broadband
iNES Telecom was an early ISP pioneer in Romania and coverage of most urban areas, existing motorways,
currently provides internet access, telephony, IPTV, data international airports and modernized railways, as
center, data transport and IT services in Bucharest and well as 600 specific localities identified as having no
surrounding areas. Meanwhile, Cloudsys Telecom is or poor mobile coverage. GCD shows that 2600MHz
authorized to provide terrestrial public connections with license expiry will be aligned with the existing rights in
access to a fixed location or limited mobility, as well as that band, which expire in April 2029. TeleGeography
phone services for public use, leased line, broadcast notes that ANCOM has scheduled an online Advisory/
and internet services. The company is reportedly owned Consultative Council meeting for 14 September 2022
by Enjoy Smart Solutions. for further discussion of the auction bidder selection
(September 23, 2022) www.commsupdate.com procedure, the new spectrum tariffs and the general
organization of the auction, with all interested parties
Following consultations on the specifications for invited to participate. (September 9, 2022) Economica.net
Romania’s upcoming 5G license auction in the 700MHz,
1500MHz, 2600MHz and 3400MHz-3800MHz frequency The National Authority for Management and Regulation
bands, the National Authority for Management & in Communications (ANCOM) has requested opinions
Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has proposed on the potential use of the 26GHz band for the provision
several amendments to its original terms in response of broadband electronic communications services
to operators’ appeals. ANCOM has proposed to extend in the country. In a statement, it said it is seeking to
the validity of licenses in the 700MHz, 1500MHz and ascertain whether there is definite interest in providing
3400MHz-3800MHz bands to 25 years (from the such services using 26GHz spectrum in either the
previously suggested 20 years), whilst keeping the short-term (2023-25) or medium-term (2026-28).
proposed auction starting bid value unchanged at Stakeholders are invited to submit their comments by
around EUR693 million (USD692 million). Furthermore, 16 September. ANCOM also pointed out that the 26GHz
the regulator’s latest draft document (see link below range (24.25GHz-27.5GHz) is made up of three other
for the full text in Romanian) proposes a 30% reduction independent frequency bands, which are very different
in the annual fees for the usage of new spectrum. in terms of their historical use and regulation. These are
Orange, Vodafone and Telekom Romania Mobile the 24.25GHz-24.5GHz, 24.5GHz-26.5GHz and 26.5GHz-
had asked ANCOM to reduce annual spectrum fees 27.5GHz bands, with the first being licensed to Orange
so that they could build networks faster and meet Romania, Vodafone Romania and SN Radiocomunicatii
objectives of Romania’s national strategy on service for the operation of radio relay links.
coverage and quality. Additionally, ANCOM scrapped a (September 2, 2022) www.commsupdate.com
requirement for letters of bank guarantee (‘performance

The deployment of 5G networks is planned on the 4.4- of the equipment in 2023, with commercial deliveries
4.99 Ghz band in Russia starting from 2024, reports from 2024. That roadmap is currently under revision
Telecomdaily.ru citing the country's Deputy Prime- as operators remain still more interested in supporting
Minister Dmitriy Chernyshenko. The equipment will be LTE networks. Russian operators could face problems
Russia designed by state-owned corporation Rostec, using local developing their networks using home-spun equipment
because they have multi-vendor equipment on their
systems. Rostec initially had planned to start production

179 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022