Romania could start the auction to award 5G license this year as operators need one or two years to prepare for the development of this new type of network, according to Catalin Marinescu, the former president of local telecom regulator ANCOM, quoted by Economica.net.

“The start of the procedures for the 5G auction could take place anytime, even this year, but it needs to be predictable. If we follow the decisions of the European Commission, the 700 MHz band is available for use starting 2020 but I think operators, as was the case with the previous auction, need a year or two to prepare, including to see what equipment they use,” Marinescu said.

Marinescu also said that a decision about the 5G auction would be made by the Government and ANCOM would only organize the auction. He said an auction would be opportune this year, “if not next year at the latest.”

Catalin Marinescu submitted his resignation from his position as ANCOM president last week. The resignation will take effect end-April. After leaving the Romanian institution, he will become the head of the Strategy Division of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

In September 2016, the European Commission launched a 5G for Europe Action Plan to boost EU efforts for the deployment of 5G infrastructures and services across the Digital Single Market by 2020. The plan targeted early network introduction by 2018, and moving towards commercial large scale introduction by the end of 2020 at the latest.

The 5G technology should offer data connections well above 10 Gigabits per second, the capability to exploit any available wireless resources (from Wi-Fi to 4G) and to handle millions of connected devices simultaneously. It supports the new type of Internet of Things (IoT) applications that are developed for industrial and business use.

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editor@romania-insider.com