Romania's telecom market regulator (ANCOM) plans to hold the auction for the 5G licenses in the third quarter (Q3) of this year.

According to ANCOM's plan, quoted by News.ro, the decision on organizing the selection procedure to grant the rights to use the radio spectrum available in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2600 MHz, 3400-3800 MHz frequency bands will be adopted in Q2. The selection procedure will take place in Q3.

In Q4, ANCOM is to roll out informative campaigns on the advantages of 5G. The campaigns will target the local authorities, the business environment, and the general public.

The 5G auction was supposed to take place last year but was delayed over issues related to the selection criteria for the equipment providers for the new networks, Ziarul Financiar explained. According to previous estimates, the Government could cash a minimum of EUR 580 million for all the frequency bands.

In August 2019, Romania and the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the safe development of 5G technology. The memorandum sets out several criteria that companies participating in developing 5G networks should meet. These criteria request that bidders are "consistent with the rule of law" and "transparent."

ANCOM's priorities this year also include transposing the provisions of the European Electronic Communications Code into the secondary legislation, carrying out the projects concerning the Infrastructure Law, and revising the secondary legislative framework applicable to the market of electronic communications and postal services.

simona@romania-insider.com

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