EC starts probe into Romania’s still high mobile termination rates

The European Commission has started an in-depth investigation into Romania’s decision to freeze mobile and fixed termination rates for telecom players. The Commission has published the announcement on its website. It says the Romanian telecom regulator ANCOM’s decision to keep these rates to the 2014 level was based on outdated information. The decision does not respect the EU regulation and the tariffs are higher compared to other EU markets. These rates determine the final prices telecom operator charge their clients. After the investigation, which will include talks to ANCOM in the next three months, the EC can either drop the case, or recommend that ANCOM either change or withdraw its decision altogether. In Romania, telecom player RCS & RDS has been opposing this decision, whereas Orange, Vodafone and Telekom, the other players on the market, have been lobbying for the tariff freeze, reports local Ziarul Financiar. Lowering these tariffs, which were calculated in 2012 and enforced in 2014, would lead to cheaper communication services for consumers, RCS & RDS argues. The Romanian Competition Council has also asked the regulator to revise as soon as possible the way these termination rates are calculated. editor@romania-insider.com