The Change in the Tariffs for Fixed Telephony

Today, September 2, 2003, was communicated to the Commercial Society RomTelecom S.A. the decision of the national Regulatory Authority for Communications regarding the approval of the change in the tariffs charged by the telephony operator for the subscriptions and the international calls, as well as regarding the expression in Euro of the tariffs for all the services provided on the retail market. based on the analyses of the requests and arguments submitted by RomTelecom, ANRC decided the followings:

– The tariffs for local and long-distance calls remain unchanged (the price for a call remains the same, as well as the number of seconds included in a call);

– The tariffs for international calls will decrease till 45% (with an average of 17%);

– The tariffs for the subscriptions will increase with an average of 15.35% (an increase of 20,060 lei for the subscriptions with 0, 50 and 100 calls included and of 10,030 lei for the social subscription);

– The fixed telephony operator will express in Euro the tariffs for all the retail services.

The change in the tariffs approved by ANRC take into account the inflation rate (between September 1, 2002, date taken into consideration at the latest tariffs adjustment, in November 2002, and June 30, 2003) and represents a first step in the tariffs rebalancing process. When ANRC will approve the tariffs rebalancing process (a correlation of tariffs with the level of costs), using the cost calculation model and the accounting statements Romtelecom will prepare in accordance with the ANRC decisions, this first step in the tariffs rebalancing process will be considered, its concrete effects being evaluated and adjusted appropriately.

In accordance with the Law on universal service and users’ rights regarding the electronic communications networks and services, the previous changes in the tariffs will enter into force no sooner than October 2, 2003.