Romanian Regulator Outlines Auction Plans

• Ancom, the Romanian regulator, plans to issue licences across a broad range of spectrum in 2012.
• Despite the regulator's best efforts, the lower frequency bands are likely to be snapped up by the three existing GSM players.

Romanian regulator Ancom has outlined its plan for a spectrum auction in late 2012. The regulator's plans for licences in the 800-MHz, 900-MHz, 1,800-MHz and 2,600-MHz bands are tabulated below, with Ancom aiming to raise EUR700 million (USD921 million).

Our Take

The shorter-duration licences will cover the period 1 January 2013 to 5 April 2014 so as to bring the licences into the same time period as existing licences, held by Vodafone and Orange, and reduce barriers to entry for new players. IHS Global Insight expects the incumbent operators to win back these licences after having invested heavily in the country already.

Ancom has taken a leaf out of the German regulator's book for its terms for the 800-MHz and 900-MHz licences. Licensees will be required to hit coverage criteria in areas with limited existing coverage as part of their licence. These clauses will greatly increase the coverage of broadband in Romania as licence winners will largely use LTE in the 800-MHz band and a combination of W-CDMA and GSM in the 900-MHz band.

While the auction has been set out to bring in new entrants, the number of licences available in the sub-1-GHz band will see existing players Orange, CosmOTE and Vodafone pick up two licences each. Competition is more likely to arrive through the 1,800-MHz and 2,600-MHz bands due to the increased number of licences on sale, but coverage will be limited with 2,600-MHz coverage unlikely to extend beyond metropolitan areas. The three allocations of unpaired 2,600-MHz spectrum are more likely to be used for TDD-LTE rather than WiMAX, with global momentum shifting away from WiMAX and the GSA reporting five live TDD-LTE networks, while in Russia operators are re-farming WiMAX licences for LTE (see World: 16 March 2012: Over 300 Operators Are Investing in LTE, GSA Reports and Russia: 2 February 2012: MTS Receives Moscow LTE Licence).