Page 57 - SAMENA Trends - September 2023

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WHOLESALE NEWS

ANCOM to Deregulate Call Termination Markets

Romanian telecoms watchdog the National Authority for published for public consultation a draft decision proposing the
Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has withdrawal of obligations imposed on operators identified as
having significant market power (SMP) in the fixed and mobile
voice call termination services markets. The decision is supported
by the latest EU delegated regulation on harmonized termination
rates (2021/654), which regulates at EU level the maximum tariffs
that can be charged for termination services. With the most
significant obstacles to competition and market entry removed,
ANCOM proposes to withdraw the individual obligations imposed
on SMP operators in this area. The regulator has established a
transitional period of one year for the changes to take effect, during
which the previous obligations will be maintained under the same
conditions. Interested parties are invited to submit their comments
before 23 October.

National Telecom, AIS Strike Roaming Deal

Thai state-owned operator National Telecom (NT) rented RAN
gear from AIS to enable its commercial 5G strategy, with the
latter tapping into the former's 700MHz spectrum. The move was
approved by the nation’s telecoms regulator and will involve the
lease of 13,500 base stations that will be constructed by AIS over
the next two years and a domestic roaming deal on infrastructure
until March 2036. AIS will provide roaming services for free to NT
until the network is built, but an unspecified roaming fee will be
in place when finishes. Separately, AIS will pay THB14.9 billion
(US$419.6 million) for half of NT’s 700MHz spectrum to the
National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.
A provision of this deal will be that 20% of this spectrum will
be reserved for MVNOs. State-owned operator CAT Telecom
previously bought two 5MHz blocks of 700MHz at auction in 2020
for THB 34.3 billion. NT is also planning to launch 5G services for
enterprises using 400MHz of 26GHz spectrum TOT which merged technology in Bangkok with Chinese equipment vendor ZTE, in a
with CAT Telecom. AIS recently trialed mmWave 5G standalone move to enhance new use cases such as VR and online gaming.

Moldova Closer to EU Roaming Agreement

The European Commission (EC) adopted a proposal which will legislations are updated, enabling travelers to roam without extra
lead to the inclusion of Moldova into the bloc’s roam like at home costs. The move follows an agreement on data roaming agreed
rules, progressing a plan agreed earlier this year. In a statement, in June, when operators including Orange, Deutsche Telekom and
EC noted it and the Moldova Association Committee will amend Telefonica voluntarily pledged to lower roaming rates for travelers
their existing agreement by including an updated legislation on starting January 2024. Valdis Dombrovskis, EVP and commissioner
telecoms and postal services implemented by the European Union for Trade in the EU said the bloc is now “one step closer towards
(EU), once it receives the green light from the European council. bringing Moldova into the EU free roaming area”.
Moldova will start adopting new roaming rules once relevant

57 SEPTEMBER 2023