Romania's telecom regulator lowers termination rates starting May 1

Romania’s telecom regulator ANCOM has agreed with local telecom operators to cut the termination rates of mobile calls by 12.5%, starting May 1 this year. The rates will go down from 0.95 eurocents per minute to 0.84 eurocents per minute. This measure is a temporary one until a new cost model for determining termination rates is finalized, in about 16 months. The termination rate cut should motivate mobile carriers to operate more efficiently and cut the final prices charged to their consumers, according to ANCOM president Sorin Grindeanu. In October 2017, ANCOM decided to freeze termination rates at the 2014 level, which determined the European Commission to start an in-depth investigation. The EC said at that time that ANCOM’s decision was based on outdated information and that termination rates in Romania were among the highest in the European Union. Termination rates are the charges which one telecommunications operator charges to another for terminating calls on its network. editor@romania-insider.com