Following the tender that ANRCTI organised between June 2007 and August 2007, three providers of electronic communications services were designated to perform the installation of telecentres in other 130 localities of the rural area, with limited or without access to telephony and Internet services. The winning companies are S.C. Orange Romania S.A., National Radiocommunications Company S.A. and S.C. Vodafone Romania S.A.
Orange Romania shall install telecentres in 42 villages of 18 counties, the National Radiocommunications Company shall install telecentres in 54 villages of 23 counties, whereas Vodafone Romania was designated to perform the installation of 34 telecentres in 17 counties. The tender was launched for 131 localities, but no winner was designated for Valea Mare village in Band commune, Mures county, since none of the qualified applicants has submitted an offer for this locality.
The list with the localities where the universal service providers shall install telecentres is available for consultation here, on the ANRCTI website.
The installation of the 130 telecentres shall start as soon as the contracts between the three parties – the tender’s winners, the respective localities’ local public administration authorities and ANRCTI – shall be concluded. Within 15 days from the conclusion of the contracts, the mayoralties of the localities have the obligation to make available for the winning companies the space necessary for the telecentre’s functioning. The providers shall be obliged to install the telecentres and start the services provision within the term specified in the winning offers. The maximum term provided is 120 days from the date the space was made available.
The net cost of the installation of these 130 telecentres amounts to RON 5,088,052.90, which shall be compensated from the special universal service fund managed by ANRCTI. On average, the total cost of the installed equipments and of the maintenance of one telecentre for 3 years, as established by the tender, amounts to RON 39,138 (approximately EUR 11,800). The cost related to the installation of the access links are different for each locality, depending on the technology used and the distance to the closest point of the winning provider’s network.
So far, ANRCTI has organised tenders for the installation of telecentres in 331 localities. 253 telecentres are already functional.
The telecentre is a public space equipped with at least two telephones, two computers and a fax, within which the end-users may initiate and receive local, national and international calls. The telecentre also provides facsimile and data communications services at a transfer rate high enough to allow functional access to the Internet.