Romanian Communication Authority slashes charges on calls between mobile telephony networks

The Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) will reduce by 30 percent the new maximum tariffs that telecom companies can charge for call termination on their individual networks, as well as the maximum interconnection tariffs. This refers to the charges paid by telecom companies to each other for connecting calls between networks. The costs are passed onto consumers as increased tariffs for calls outside their network. The revenues obtained by the mobile telephony operators in Romania from voice call termination amounted to EUR 0.2 billion, accounting for 11.7 percent of the electronic communications market mid-2011. The fixed telephony operators obtained EUR 0.05 billion by providing voice call termination services, which means 2.7 percent of the electronic communications market. Lowering the two types of tariffs should, in theory, be reflected in lower call costs for customers.

The maximum tariff that the six mobile telephony operators identified as having significant market power – Cosmote, Orange, RCS&RDS, Romtelecom, Telemobil and Vodafone – can charge for the services of call termination on mobile telephone networks will be 4.05 eurocents per minute from the beginning of March. The second cut will take place as of the beginning of September 2012, when the maximum tariff to be charged will be 3.07 eurocents/minute, according to ANCOM. The maximum interconnection tariffs in view of call termination charged by the 51 fixed telephony operators identified as having significant market power will initially decrease to 0.82 eurocents/minute as of 1 January 2012. As of 1 July 2012, rates will drop further to 0.67 eurocents/minute. The interconnection tariffs charged by the fixed telephony operators will no longer be differentiated by peak/off-peak. The electronic communications market was worth some EUR 1.7 billion mid-2011, according to ANCOM, quoting statistical data reported by the providers. The termination rate is the cost of a call originated in an operator’s network and terminated in another operator’s network, paid by the operator of the originating network to the operator of the terminating network. This cost is included in the tariff paid by the originating end-user. 'Charging excessive termination rates as compared to the costs may affect competition in the entire telephony market because this is an instrument by which operators with a large number of subscribers can prevent the development of smaller operators,” according to the authority. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Photoxpress.com)