Statement
by
H. E. Mr. Dan Nica
Minister of Communications and Information Technology
Romania

Tuesday, 26 March 2002

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great privilege for me to be present here today and I am proud to be able to share with this audience a few significant facts about the telecommunications market and the new telecom strategy of Romania.

Year 2002 finds the Romanian telecom market in a process of transformation and effervescence: communications have known a great development, tele-density has doubled in the last 12 years and the mobile phone has become widely used. We can realistically estimate that the number of mobile subscribers will surpass that of fixed lines this year. Since the end of year 2000, the Romanian Government has designated telecommunications and Information technology as national priority: the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is, so far, the main regulatory body of this sector and is actively preparing the conditions for the complete liberalization of the Romanian telecommunications market.

Most telecommunications services of Romania have already been liberalized: value-added services, cellular mobile telephony, data transmission and provision of Internet services, including services on alternative networks, CATV and satellite networks. Last year, several licenses for data transmission as well as a license for TETRA have been granted. Also, several licenses for data transmission using point-multipoint technologies have been granted between 1999-2000. The last restrictions, referring to voice telephony and supplying leased lines, will be lifted beginning with January 1st 2003, when full liberalization of the telecommunication services and networks market takes place.

The full liberalization of the telecommunications market, scheduled for January 1st 2003 at the latest, will continue to stimulate competition and will offer new opportunities for Romanian and foreign investors. All telecommunications companies that entered the Romanian market so far try to position themselves for the opening of the market at the above-mentioned date.

The MCIT is currently undertaking the promotion of the legislative reform and the enforcement of the regulatory framework of the sector, including the intensification of radio spectrum management and growth of the monitoring capability. Ministerial Orders already in force regulate the processes of authorization, which have been much simplified, by introducing the system of general authorization, based on simple notification. In addition, the draft introduces a sole general authorization per supplier, regardless of how many services it offers.

The MCIT has also elaborated the new National Numbering Plan, by the implementation of which, it aims to provide sufficient numbering resources on relatively long term, as well as to fulfill the obligations under EU Directives with regard to the numbering system. The fixed and mobile telephony operators activating at present on the Romanian market were consulted and expressed their approval of this new plan. By mid June, the new numbering scheme implementation and testing will be realized. The new National Numbering Plan will be in force on June 14, 2002 simultaneously for all the operators. The telecomm operators are to perform all the necessary technical modifications for introducing the new numbering scheme and to take all the measures to inform their own users as well as those of the correspondent operators and suppliers.

By mid-April we will advance to the Parliament the draft legislation that will provide for the setting up of the National Regulatory Authority for Communications, an independent body that will ensure the professional expertise necessary for efficient regulations and control of this sector. MCIT also prepares regulations referring to interconnection (balancing of those expenses for telephony operations that involve several operators); more simplified authorization procedures; collocation (ensuring the access of one operator to another operator's resources). All these documents will be drafted in conformity with the international practice and regulations, with the community aquis and after consulting the operators.

Taking into account the latest practices where the regulations of the universal service are concerned, as well as the continuous and accelerated evolution of technology, Romania has decided to promote a mixture of policies that address both the access to communications networks of people in the remote areas that encumber high installation costs (mountainous areas covering one third of the Romanian territory), and the possibility of low-income categories of population to have access to telephony services. Promoting open competition and technological neutrality are the basic principles that govern the Romanian policy where the universal service is concerned.

We are highly preoccupied by this aspect, as it will complete the set of conditions for the existence and the functioning of an open telecom market. Competition is the guarantee of constant improvement, technical and managerial innovation, quality improvement and reduction of prices. The evolution of the mobile operators on the market and the constant interest of the consumers for better, newer mobile services go to prove this. That is why we are considering the possibility of granting this year up to four 3rd generation mobile licenses, UMTS.

In November 2002, in Bucharest, there will take place the Pan-European Ministerial Preparatory Conference for the World Summit on the Information Society. The Summit is meant to provide a global platform where governments, United Nations agencies, the private sector and the civil society will meet, in order to develop a common vision and understanding of the information society and to adopt a Declaration and a Plan of action. The initiative to hold a preparatory meeting in Bucharest has been widely embraced and it will be my pleasure to welcome the representatives of your governments in Romania in November. I have every confidence that the works of the Preparatory meeting for WSIS will be as successful as the conference we are all attending here today.

Thank you for your time and attention.