Starting from September, the mobile telephony operators on the Romanian market will unlock, upon the users’ request, the handsets encoded on their networks. ANCOM, together with the Association of Mobile Operators in Romania (AOMR) and its members, have laid down and signed a code of practice establishing the minimum standard terms for releasing the terminals locked on the mobile networks in Romania. The mobile network operators Romtelecom and RCS&RDS joined this initiative.
This code is AOMR’s first major self-regulating initiative and reflects the degree of maturity of the Romanian market in the field. ”We appreciated the operators’ collaboration in this matter as a new proof of their concern, in line with the Authority’s, for the interests of the telephony users in Romania”, the ANCOM President, Mr. Catalin Marinescu, declared.
The code of practice will be enforced by Cosmote, Orange, Telemobil, Vodafone, Romtelecom and RCS&RDS, starting from 1 September, this year. Starting from that date, each signatory operator that sells mobile terminals encoded on its network undertakes the obligation to inform its customers – at the moment of sale – whether the handset they purchase is locked on the network or not, as well as on the unlock fee and on the unlocking conditions, and to offer the customers the possibility of requesting the release of the mobile terminal on the very date of the purchase or at a later moment. Terminal release requests must be accompanied by the invoice or by the guarantee certificate of the respective terminal.
If the handset is not purchased together with other electronic communications services, the mobile telephony operator that sells it will bear the unlocking costs and will not bind the terminal unlocking by the purchase of other services or by the payment of other fees.
If the handset is purchased as part of a promotional package or at a preferential price and the customer requires the unlocking before the expiry of the minimum period provided in the contract for communications services concluded with the operator, the customer will have to pay both the unlocking fee and the penalty for the anticipated unlocking of the handset.
Having expired the compulsory minimum duration of the contract, the handset will be unlocked upon paying the unlocking tariff only. The same rule will apply to the users of prepaid services.
The operator will set out the unlocking fee, which is to cover exclusively the value of the unlocking operation. The handsets will be unlocked within 15 working days from the request registration date.
The operators will unlock only the handsets which did not exceed the average usage life mentioned by the producer in the warranty certificate. Older terminals will be unlocked only to the extent the operators hold the necessary technical resources.