Romanian telecom authority Ancom has launched a competitive selection procedure to allocate 195 MHz available in the 800 MHz, 2,600 MHz and 3,400-3,800 MHz bands to provide 5G-based mobile communications services. The additional 5G spectrum provided by Ancom through the auction will boost the supply and use of new technologies in Romania on a large scale. The purchase of all the spectrum available in the auction at the starting price would raise EUR 72.5 million.
In order to align the period of validity of all the licences to use the radio spectrum granted by the authority, licences in the 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz bands will have a period of validity until 5 April 2029 and licences for 3400 - 3800 MHz frequencies until 31 December 2025. Details of the competitive selection procedure to grant rights to use radio frequencies and the decision on setting the minimum licence fee for those rights, as well as conditions for paying the fee, were published in the Official Gazette no. 964 of 08 October.
Bidding spectrum
Under the tendering procedure, interested operators may purchase 195 MHz of the free spectrum following similar tendering procedures in 2012 and 2015, broken down as follows: a paired block with a bandwidth of 2x5 MHz in the radio frequency sub-bands 791-796 MHz / 832-837 Mhz, for a period between 01 January 2022 and 05 April 2029; 8 blocks of 5 MHz pairs in the 2,530-2,570 MHz / 2,650-2,690 MHz sub-bands, for a period between 01 January 2022 and 05 April 2029; 1 x 15 MHz block in the 2,600-2,615 MHz sub-band, for a period between 01 January 2022 and 05 April 2029; and 18 x 5 MHz blocks in the 3,400-3,490 MHz sub-band, for a period between 0 January 2022 and 31 December 2025.
Licence fees
The minimum amount of the licence fee for the rights to use the available radio frequencies is the leu equivalent of EUR 22 million for a paired block with a bandwidth of 2x5 MHz in the radio frequency sub-bands 791-796 MHz / 832-837 MHz; EUR 4.3 million for a paired block with a bandwidth of 2x5 MHz in the radio frequency sub-bands 2,530-2,570 MHz / 2,650-2,690 Mhz; EUR 3.5 million for an unpaired block of 15 MHz bandwidth in the 2,600-2,615 MHz radio frequency sub-band; and EUR 700,000 for an unpaired block with a bandwidth of 1x5 MHz in the radio frequency sub-band 3,400-3,490 MHz.
The amounts paid by the winners of the selection procedure as a licence fee will constitute revenue to the state budget and will be paid within fifteen days from the announcement of the winners.
Coverage requirements
The tender specifications for this tender set out some coverage and development obligations for those who buy the licences. For the licences to be granted in the 800 MHz band, the obligations aim to ensure the coverage of 95 percent of the population of 56 localities, with mobile broadband communications services with a data transfer speed in the downlink direction of at least 2 Mbps, with a 95 percent probability of indoor reception. This obligation shall run from 31 December 2023 at the latest until the end of the period of validity of the licence, respectively 05 April 2029.
The winners of the selection procedure who are awarded rights of use in the band 3,400-3,600 MHz must install a number of base stations that will gradually increase from one year to another, so that three years and six months after the award, they reach 100 base stations in operation, installed anywhere in the country.
All the owners of the licences obtained as a result of this auction have the obligation to connect public mobile networks with the RO-Alert System.
