“In 2019, ANCOM’s activity of monitoring the frequency spectrum for mobile telephony services in Romania translated into an online map bringing together the results of all the Authority’s measurements. By this tool, available on www.aisemnal.ro, anybody can check the providers’ coverage with voice services throughout the country. The measurements were performed during an extensive monitoring campaign for verifying the providers’ compliance with their obligations of ensuring coverage with voice services. Following this campaign, ANCOM applied sanctions based on the coverage percentage achieved by each provider. In 2019, we carried out 3,982 control actions and applied sanctions by fine, totalling RON 2,536,900, declared Cristin Popa, Director of ANCOM’s Executive Division Monitoring and Control.
Following these control actions, ANCOM issued 215 notifications and applied 774 warnings and 155 contravention fines, amounting RON 2,536,900. This amount is revenue to the state budget.
Electronic communications market
In 2019, ANCOM conducted 2,326 control actions in the electronic communications market, issuing 215 notifications and applying 316 warnings and 85 contravention fines in the amount of RON 2,154,400.
ANCOM applied 9 contravention fines totalling RON 1,650,000 to mobile telephony providers for failure to fulfil the coverage obligations included in their licences, breach of obligations regarding the conclusion of contracts with the end-users and the carrying out of the telephone number porting process.
In 2019, ANCOM carried out an extensive campaign for measuring the national coverage with voice services of areas inhabited by at least 98% of the country’s population, that the operators Orange, Vodafone, Telekom and RCS&RDS had the obligation to ensure according to the frequency usage licences acquired in the 2012 spectrum auction. Coverage with mobile voice services was measured in 13,400 settlements, as well as along 246,000 km of national, county, town and village roads. For failure to fulfil these obligations, the operator RCS&RDS was fined RON 800,000, Telekom Mobile RON 700,000, Vodafone RON 60,000 and Orange RON 50,000.
ANCOM also applied 3 contravention fines amounting RON 12,000 to internet service providers, the highest of which – RON 5,000 – was applied for providing access to internet services without a valid contract in place.
Furthermore, ANCOM applied 14 contravention fines totalling RON 72,000 to sound and TV broadcasting (radio and TV) providers. The main sanctions were applied for failure to comply with the technical data, parameters or conditions in the technical authorisations.
CATV network providers were sanctioned by 48 contravention fines amounting RON 366,000, for failure to observe the conditions provided in the General Authorisation.
Moreover, ANCOM applied 11 fines totalling RON 54,400 to radiocommunications operators. The most frequent breaches assessed during the control actions were failure to observe the provisions in the authorisation documents (frequency usage licences and frequency assignment authorisations), as well as the provisions regarding the operation of radiocommunications stations.
Radio equipment market and electromagnetic compatibility
In the radio equipment market, ANCOM carried out 836 control actions, applying 133 warnings and 46 contravention fines amounting to RON 241,000. The highest fine was RON 20,000 and it was applied for failure to display the CE marking on equipment.
Concerning electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), the highest fine – i.e. RON 20,000 – was applied for EMC non-conforming equipment.
Postal services market
In 2019, ANCOM conducted 820 control actions, following which it applied 325 warnings and 24 contravention fines amounting RON 141,500. A frequently found breach in this market was failure to observe the obligations imposed by the general authorization regime.
The National Company Romanian Post (CNPR) was subject to 284 of all these control actions, in its capacity as a universal service provider, and received 192 warnings and 6 fines totalling RON 55,000.
The highest fine in the postal services market, amounting RON 30,000, was applied to CNPR, for failure to comply with the minimum quality conditions for domestic items of correspondence within the scope of universal service.
Other postal service providers were sanctioned mainly for breaches such as the provision of postal services without an authorisation, failure to deliver postal items by the corresponding means, failure to leave delivery notice cards or posting delivery notice cards with inadequate content, failure to observe the term for storing postal items after the delivery notification, failure to observe the delivery terms for Express postal service or tariff modification between the moment of the submission of the postal item and the moment of its delivery.
