Five companies submitted offers to buy the rights to use the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands on sale in Romania. Four of them are already active as mobile telephony operators in the country: Orange, Vodafone, Cosmote and RCS & RDS, according to Mediafax newswire, quoting sources on the telecom market. The fifth bidder was 2K Telecom, part of Asesoft group. 2K Telecom started in 2000 as an internet services provider.

The bid failed to attract any new major international player seeking to expand on the Romanian market.

Based on the starting price of spectrum licenses, the bid would exceed EUR 700 million. The deadline to submit offers was August 13. The auction commission will examine the submitted qualification documents and announce by August 20 at the latest the operators admitted to participate in the auction, according to Romania’s communications authority ANCOM.

If the demand exceeds the offer, the auction will start on September 10 with the primary rounds, whereas the final results are to be announced most likely in October. If the demand is equal to the offer, the auction will begin directly with the assignment rounds during which the operators will bid for the positioning they wish in the band.

Two types of licenses will be awarded under the auction: long-term licenses (15 years, valid until April 2029) and short-term licenses (1 year and three months, valid until April 2014).

The starting prices were already established by a Government decision. Blocks valid for 15 years in the 800 MHz band will have a minimum price of EUR 35 million, those in the 900 MHz band start at EUR 40 million, EUR 10 million per block in the 1800 MHz band and EUR 4 million and EUR 3 million per block pair and unpaired block in the 2600 MHz band. For short term licenses, starting values ​​were set at EUR 1.7 million in 900 MHz band and EUR 0.8 million in the 1800 MHz band.

The radio frequencies available in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands are currently used by operators Cosmote, Orange and Vodafone. ANCOM will also free and open for tender the 800 and 2600 MHz bands, which are currently partially used by the Ministry of National Defense.

Following the tender next year, the new licenses for the bands currently owned by Orange Romania and Vodafone Romania will come into force at the beginning of 2013. For the bands currently owned by Cosmote, the new license will become valid in April 2014.

Vodafone and Orange paid USD 75 million each for their license back in 1996. Cosmote bought the rights to use the 1,710-1,785 MHz/1,805-1,880 MHz frequencies in 1998, valid for 15 years, for some USD 53 million.

editor@romania-insider.com