During the period following the full opening of the Romanian electronic communications market, the main priority of the National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC) is to finalize the regulations dedicated to the wholsale markets in the sector of electronic communications, respectively to identify the relevant markets, to designate the operators having significant market power and to impose specific obligations to such operators, in order to ensure competition in this sector. After the Law on universal service will enter into force, ANRC will take similar measures with respect to the retail markets in the sector of electronic communications, respectively the markets of service offered to end users.
ANRC team is currently working to integrate the comments received related to the projects submitted to public consultation previous to December 25, 2002, i.e. the draft Decision on the designation of S.N.Tc. "Romtelecom" – S.A. as operator with significant power on the market of providing unconditioned access to the local loop for the purpose of providing broadband data services and voice services and the third part of the Regulation regarding the identification of relevant markets within the electronic communications sector. These documents, as well as the designation of providers having significant power on the wholesale markets identified by ANRC and the establishment of obligations to be imposed to such providers for the purpose of preventing possible cases of abuse will be finalized during the first months of 2003.
Once the Law on universal service and the rights of users with respect to electroni communications networks and services (Law on universal service) enters into force, ANRC will start the implementation of the universal service policy and strategy in Romania. During a first phase, ANRC will analyze the needs of Romanian citizens related to communications services and then designate the providers of universal service (companies obliged to provide a minimum set of communications services at a certain quality level and affordable tariffs.) The minimum set of services from which any Romanian end user shall benefit includes: connection to the public telephone network at a fixed point and publicly available telephone services, pay-phones, access to information on subscribers, and directories (phone books). Tariffs imposed by providers of universal service shall be controled by ANRC, who will also establish the methods for financing the universal service.
During 2003, ANRC will identify the relevant retail markets (markets of services provided to end users), will designate the providers with significant power on these markets and impose them obligations in order to protect the interests of end users against abuse. ANRC may impose to providers with significant power on the relevant markets obligations in order to: forbid excessive prices related to the costs of providing services, establish certain control measures for individual tariffs, establish certain measures for tariff orientation towards costs or towards tariffs existing on comparable markets, prevent the grating of unjustified favors to certain end users compared to other end users.
The obligations imposed to providers and established in accordance with the Law on universal service will be inlcuded in the General Authorization.
During one month following the entering into force of the Decision on general autorization, ANRC registered a number of 435 notifications. ANRC team currently verifies these notifications, issues standard certificates to the providers and builds the data base representing the Public Register of Providers of Electronic Communications Networks and Services. This register will be available on ANRC website by the beginning of February 2003. The registration of notifications received from companies intending to provide electronic communications networks and services is an on-going process and will take place along the entire duration of ANRC.
During the first period of February, the 47 territorial offices of ANRC will start their activity in all municipalities as well as in all sectors of Bucharest. The role of the territorial offices is to control whether the obligations imposed to providers of electronic communications networks and services and to providers of postal services through the General Authorization and licenses are observed, but also to act as interface between the networks and services providers in the territory and ANRC head office. Starting the spring of 2003, ANRC will initiate controls in the territory in order to verify whether information provided during the notification process are according to real data.