“A salient condition for access to eGovernment services is a computer connected to the Internet. Therefore, one of ANRC’s strategic priorities is stimulating the growth of Internet connections, so that the Romanian citizens could interact with the administration on-line”, the ANRC President, Mr. Dan Cristian Georgescu, declared in the opening session of the conference entitled “Romania and EU Accesion, eGovernment Initiatives and Challenges”, the first event within ROCS 2005.
Dan Georgescu pointed out that Internet access services have swiftly developed in Romania. Within only 6 months, the number of Internet connections doubled: by mid 2005, the providers had reported ANRC 1,931,455 connections. Among these, 522,796 Internet connections offered access to broadband services, of which 61.65% – through dial-up connections, at mobile locations and 29.49% – through coaxial cable (the second place in the users’ preferences). Thus, the prospective of development for broadband Internet access services through coaxial cable are promising, given the fact that 63.55% of the urban households and 24.08% of the rural ones are connected to cable networks. As one Internet connection may be used by several members of a family, the ANRC President estimated the number of Internet users to exceed 4 million.
“Apart from the possibilities of access to the Internet provided through coaxial cable, there are two other important highways of this growth: ADSL and neighbourhood networks. We expect a rapid growth of the number of ADSL connections offered by Romtelecom and the 13 alternative providers who have signed local loop access agreements, since ADSL is the main and the most accessible Internet connection method all over the world. ANRC grants authorisations to an increasing number of neighbourhood networks, which are a temporary solution with an important role in shaping the consumer behaviour, as they allow a large mass of users to get accustomed to the Internet” , Mr. Dan Georgescu highlighted.
ANRC provides an active support for the development of the rural population’s access to the Internet, stimulating the demand for such services in areas with low exposure to the communications infrastructure by the installation of telecentres. “In the rural areas, eGovernment solutions could give an additional incentive for the use of Internet. A teacher from Barla, county of Arges, a village benefiting from a telecentre, has expressed her content that she needn’t wait for the Romanian Official Journal any longer, since – from now on – she can find all the information she needs on the Internet. I wish this should not remain a singular example, but become a regular phenomenon, a habit”, Mr. Dan Georgescu further emphasized during the event.