The National Regulatory Authority for Communications rejected the request received from S.C. Romtelecom – S.A. for approving the increase of the tariffs for telephone line rentals with an average of 66% (2 Euro for each type of line rental) starting with January 1, 2004.
Based on the analysis of the Romanian fixed telephony market, the National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC) concluded that the increase suggested by Romtelecom would result in a net increase of the revenue, while the company still enjoys a quasi-monopoly position on the market for access to fixed public telephony networks. ANRC decided that such an increase is not part of the rebalancing process, as it is not correlated with a decrease in the tariffs for other services.
Taking into consideration the impact of the market liberalization on Romtelecom, ANRC acknowledges the necessity and importance of the rebalancing process and of setting out tariffs oriented on costs.
ANRC considers that the rebalancing of the tariffs for the fixed telephony services should be proportional and gradual and that the following rebalancing step can be achieved if it is based on reliable information about the costs of the services provided by Romtelecom or on proofs regarding the competition development and the competition effects on the company.
ANRC informed the fixed telephony operator about its availability to agree on a new rebalancing phase, during which the line rental tariffs could increase by maximum 10% (0.3 Euro for each type of line rental), under the following conditions:
1. To remove the remaining market entry barriers as a prerequisite for the development of effective competition on the long-distance and international fixed telephone services markets, by:
– the real availability of the interconnection service for the purpose of call origination at fixed locations through the carrier selection procedure, without intermediary tone, as well as of the interconnection service for the purpose of originating calls at fixed locations destined to the intelligent networks services of the interconnected operators;
– the actual implementation of the interconnection agreements based on the Reference Interconnection Offer (RIO) of Romtelecom (the elimination of the systematic delays, the actual provision of all the services specified under RIO, including the real availability of the interconnection services at all the local digital switches).
2. A reduction in the tariffs charged by Romtelecom for long-distance calls, by at least 10%, as a consequence of the effects of competition on the market of national (long-distance) calls.
The National Regulatory Authority for Communications is open to further discussions with Romtelecom and the other operators and will continue to accept those suggestions and to promote those measures that will lead to development of the competition on the Romanian fixed telephony market, to the advantage of the end users.