“It is very concerning that, although an effective legal tool was created with sustained efforts to support the development of the communications infrastructure, namely Law no.159/2016 regarding the regime of the physical infrastructure of electronic communications, we deal today with critical cases where the users do not benefit from telephony and internet services anymore because of some extreme interventions. I reiterate that the public authorities and the communications operators must comply with the legal framework in force that lays down the extent to which they may act, and I urge them to understand and observe the incumbent rights and obligations. ANCOM will continue to ensure the well-functioning of the market, to issue the required secondary legislation and to inform all the actors involved in its enforcement”, Mr. Sorin Grindeanu, the ANCOM president, said.
Enforcement of the Infrastructure Law
In line with the European regulatory framework for electronic communications, the electronic communication networks are provided freely, based on the general authorisation regime.
Where the public authorities have developed, either individually or in public-private partnerships, underground sewers for the installation of electronic communications networks, the migration of the communications networks to the underground must be done in accordance with a schedule agreed between operators and local authorities on the basis of a resettlement plan that should be considered in the development of the sewerage network, thus allowing a realistic programming of the activities necessary for moving the networks.
Where there is no underground alternative that the providers of electronic communications networks could use to move the networks installed overground, through the legal means it has at its disposal, ANCOM is encouraging and supporting the local authorities to get actively involved in building these underground alternatives. Such measures could help achieve the local community’s urban planning objectives and produce activities that could generate revenues to the local budget. The activities linked to the migration to the underground of an overground electronic communications network require a careful planning and the installation of a new network, as the operators cannot re-use the existing cables and equipment. Beside the installation works which require a building authorisation, such activities include the design of both the physical infrastructure (piping, drawing chambers) and of the actual electronic communications network (cables, equipment), the evaluation and acquisition of the necessary infrastructure and network elements, the transport and installation on-site, testing and measurements, and finally the commissioning of the new underground network segment prior to the decommissioning of the overground network in order to maintain the continuity of service provision.
“In our opinion, moving the overground networks while interrupting the provision of the communication services to the end-users may not be a sustainable approach, including in relation to the major interests of local communities. We must bear in mind that the easy access to electronic communications is the basis for all sectors of a modern and innovative economy, contributing essentially to increasing the quality of public services, especially in education, health or local administration. Here, at ANCOM, we expressed on several occasions our willingness to mediate a dialogue between local authorities and operators to find the right solutions for both parties, so that the impact of moving the overground communications networks is minimal on users”, the ANCOM president added.
It is extremely important to keep a balance between the implementation of the urban planning rules and the encouragement of competition to support the development of new physical infrastructures for electronic communications networks and services and at the same time ensure that the urban development rules are observed.
ANCOM deems useful and necessary the collaboration between the local public authorities and the providers of electronic communications networks for the development of underground infrastructures on a as wide as possible area of the municipalities and cities, as well as for an easy migration of the overground networks in view of improving the urban landscape, stimulating the social and economic development and increasing the quality of the citizens’ lives.
Law no. 159/2016 regarding the regime of the physical infrastructure of electronic communications provides that the entities that have rights of administration of public buildings, including the authorities of the local or central public administration, have the obligation to publish the conditions of access on these properties, including the maximum tariffs to be charged from the providers of electronic communications networks for such access. Detailed information on the provisions of the Infrastructure Law, as well as on the ANCOM decision regarding the maximum tariffs for the access on the public property, the approvals and authorisations issued for the infrastructure networks developed by certain local authorities, the conditions of access on the state public property or on the properties of the administrative-territorial units and many other specific information is available, in Romanian, on the ANCOM website, here.