7.02.2006
The ANRC President, Mr. Dan Georgescu, participated today, February 7, 2006, in the conference “WiMAX in the Telecom Competition”, where he emphasized the potential impact of the new technology and of the new standard – WiMAX – on the development of Romanian communications.
“Some producers are eager to use this technology for broadband wireless services, while others are aware of the fact that WiMAX is specifically a mobile technology and they are currently working on mobility products. The potential of this technology, the specialists’ interest, as well as the involvement of powerful producers in outlining this standard, strengthen my belief that we witness the birth of 4G, the next generation of mobile telephony. I think that the main advantage of the WiMAX technology, as compared to 3G, is its standardization at global level, which encourages the mass production of such equipments, the development of competition on this market, and – consequently – affordable prices”, Mr. Dan Georgescu declared.
Mr. Dan Georgescu highlighted that WiMAX could foster competition in the mobile telephony market, where harsher competition may trigger price reduction and more affordable services. He announced that ANRC is preparing a set of regulations designed to encourage competition, regarding the cost-orientation of interconnection tariffs in the mobile telephony market, as well as the virtual operators’ market entry (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). Furthermore, ANRC considers regulating national roaming, which offers the subscribers the possibility to use another operator’s network, when the network they subscribe to fails to cover a certain area.
The ANRC president also pinpointed that WiMAX may be a solution for Romania’s Universal Service problem, by means of providing broadband services at affordable prices in the rural areas, where the roll-out of twisted metallic pairs and the provision of DSL broadband services is not feasible. The WiMAX advantages will be taken into consideration in the elaboration of the national broadband strategy, on which ANRC and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are working.