ANRC Priorities for 2004

The National Regulatory Authority for Communications publishes on its website the detailed action plan for the year 2004, in line with the principles of transparency and predictability of the regulatory framework that ANRC carefully observes. The companies that operate or intend to enter the electronic communications and postal services market will thus benefit of a clear image of the ANRC priorities for the current year and will be able to correlate their business plans with the evolution of the regulatory framework.

During the first year after the liberalization, the activity of the National Regulatory Authority for Communications focused on the wholesale markets from the electronic communications sector, in order to ensure the conditions necessary for the development of the market. The main priority of ANRC for the year 2004 is the regulation of retail market: to identify the specific relevant retail markets, to determine the level of competition, to designate the operators with significant power on these markets and to impose specific obligations. Market studies have already been initiated, the results of which will constitute the basis for the identification of the specific relevant retail markets in the electronic communications sector.

Two important directions of ANRC activity are related to promoting the interest of the end-users: the implementation of the strategy on universal service within the electronic communications and postal services sector and intensifying the consumer information actions with regard to consumer rights in the electronic communications services and postal services markets.

The regulation of the wholesale markets will be continued with measures aimed at cost orientation of the interconnection tariffs, which require that ANRC elaborates the „bottom-up” model for cost calculation for the fixed and mobile telephony operators who were imposed this obligation. Around the end of the year, when both the operators and ANRC will have finalised the calculation models, their reconciliation process can be initiated, in order to establish interconnection tariffs oriented on effective costs for the fixed and mobile telephony network. All through the year, the Authority will monitor the implementation of the access and interconnection regime order to secure its efficiency.

ANRC intends to finalise the decision regarding the principles and preconditions of the reference offer for the unbundled access to local loop, based on which Romtelecom will have to elaborate and publish a reference offer for unbundled access to local loop. Also, ANRC will follow up the manner in which the national operator observes the provisions of this decision.

In order to ensure the compliance with the legal obligations of the providers of electronic communications networks or services and the postal services providers, the Authority will intensify during 2004 the monitoring and control activities, verifying the observance of the legal provisions in force, as well as of those imposed during 2003.

„If in 2003 we managed to set up the basis of a competitive environment, 2004 will be the year when we intend to ensure the „fine-tuning” of the communications market, for the purpose of increasing competition. I believe this is the best formula for describing in short the measures, often very technical, included in our action plan, which will have major effects on consolidating a healthy and dynamic competitive environment. 2003 will also be the year of the consumer, not only because there will be more and more options to choose from, but also because this is the year when universal service implementation begins. This is why the communications regulator intends to become more active towards educating the consumer who is faced more and more often with situations when he has to choose between several offers. ANRC will also launch a real offensive in order to ensure access to basic communications services to those that have not yet been provided with access to these essential facilities for anyone who considers himself a citizen of the XXI century,” declared ANRC President, Ion Smeeianu.

The detailed action plan of the National Regulatory Authority for Communications can be consulted on the ANRC website.