Romanian communication authority wants to renew state-owned Post's universal services provider mandate

The state-owned Romanian Post, whose universal services provider status should officially end at the end of 2013, could continue to serve the whole of Romania with its postal services four more years. This is according to a proposal from the Romanian Authority for Communication Management ANCOM. This means the Post could continue to serve all the Romanian remote areas, offering its services in areas not covered by other communication operators. The tariffs of an universal services provider would be flat, based on costs, and under the approval of ANCOM. The ANCOM proposal comes after the two existing private operators which submitted offers to become universal services providers did not comply with the full eligibility requirements. By law, the Romanian state has to make sure all its territory is served by postal services, with a minimum level of quality. The state also has the possibility to name such a provider ex officio. The Post was chosen as the majority of its 5,700 offices are in rural areas, while most private operators focus on urban areas. The proposed four-year mandate as an universal services provider should allow the Post to recover its potential investments and cover the possible losses caused by this obligation. The Romanian state is currently trying to rev up the Post to help its future privatisation. editor@romania-insider.com