Following the consultation with the electronic communications operators and the providers of equipments operating in the 3.6 – 3.8 GHz radio frequency bands, today, ANCOM has sent the Ministry of Communications and Information Society (MCSI) a set of recommendations for the use of the 3.6-3.8 GHz radio frequency band: elaborate a new strategy for the 3.6-3.8 GHz band in the second half of 2011, which should include the allotment of 2×28 MHz frequency sub-bands to the public operators, at the national level, and change the selection procedure. ANCOM considers that the 2.5 GHz frequency (currently allotted for governmental use) must be released as soon as possible, in view of enabling the provision of broadband data transmission services on radio (BWA) support.
Since no operator participated in the selection procedure launched last year for the allotment of the 3.6 – 3.8 GHz radio frequency band, between 25 May and 17 June, ANCOM consulted the industry with a view to identify the optimum measures to be taken for the future use of the 3.6 – 3.8 GHz radio frequency band. ANCOM received 10 responses to the questionnaire sent to the equipment operators and providers and their associations. The responses reflect the opinion of the most important players in the communications market.
Most respondents deem that the selection procedure should be re-launched around 2012 (with an exception – 2010). 83% of the respondents that wish to postpone the process invoke the absence in the market of reliable and affordable equipments to build a competitive network. As well, 50% of them indicated the difficult internal and international economic situation as a grounded reason for postponement.
As 50% of the respondents wish to change the selection procedure rolled out during the last tender, from a comparative one into a competitive one, ANCOM recommended MCSI to use a competitive procedure. However, part of the respondents to the public consultation launched by ANCOM would like to keep the comparative selection procedure, whereas only one respondent would rather a hybrid selection procedure.
The opinions of the respondents who prefer the comparative selection procedure were divided. Thus, some operators would like to remove the eligibility conditions, while others would want that only one condition related to the turnover (minimum EUR 200 million) be applied; part of them would rather that the standalone condition relates to not-holding other licences for the use of radio frequencies for the cellular communications public networks in the 410-430 MHz (CDMA410), 450-470 MHz (CDMA450) and 3400-3600 MHz (FWA) bands, whereas some of the respondents would prefer that conditions related to the experience in providing electronic communications services, financial capacity, sustainable business plan and proof of access to the investment financing sources be applied.
The answers regarding the minimum financial threshold to be applied in a competitive selection procedure varied from EUR 0.5 million and EUR 2 million for each licence, whereas a respondent considered that the financial threshold should be determined based on the costs incurred in making available the radio spectrum within the relevant bands.
Another recommendation derived from the feedback provided by the industry concerns the technical characteristics of the rights of radio spectrum use at stake. Thus, ANCOM proposes MCSI that the resulting strategy should provide for the allotment of 2×28 MHz sub-bands, at the national level, since 90% of the respondents would like that channels be allotted at the national level land all of them declared they wanted an allocation for a 2×28 MHz radio channel.
All the operators in the consultation indicated the 2500 – 2690 MHz band as currently the most adequate for the provision of broadband wireless access (BWA).
”The Authority’s analysis and consultation with the industry revealed that restarting the allotment procedure for the frequency bands within 3.6-3.8 GHz would not be a priority at the moment, but vacating and allotting frequencies in lower bands for broadband services becomes an imperative and urgent matter. We have initiated discussions in view of vacating the 2.5 GHz band, currently used by governmental institutions and I believe the Ministry will be able to elaborate and submit to the Government, within months, a document that allows us to organise a selection procedure for these spectrum resources,” Mr. Catalin Marinescu, the ANCOM President, declared.
ANCOM had launched this consultation in order to find the operators’ opinions, as well as the standpoints of the other interested parties in the Romanian electronic communications market, regarding the opportunity of allotting certain rights for the use of the radio spectrum for providing broadband wireless access (BWA), in the abovementioned bands, and the selection procedure by which these rights should be granted.
The companies that answered the ANCOM questionnaire were: Alcatel Lucent, Alvarion, Cosmote, Ericsson, Idilis, Mediasat, Orange, Romtelecom, UPC and Vodafone.