Romanian Govt. asks Orange and Vodafone for EUR 6.4 mln each for one-year license extension

The Romanian Government decided to extend mobile telephony licenses for operators Orange and Vodafone by one year, as they were due to expire at the end of 2011. Each of the companies will have to pay EUR 6.4 million for 2012, the Government announced after an evening meeting on Tuesday (December 27). This is an intermediary measure, until the bid for re-assigning licenses will be organized. The value of the tax is proportional with the amount the operators paid in 1996 for the licenses they currently use, according to the Government. Each of the two operators paid USD 75 million for their license back in 1996. Cosmote’s rights on these bands expire in 2014, which is when the new licenses will come into effect. Cosmote bought the rights to use the 1,710-1,785 MHz/1,805-1,880 MHz frequencies in 1998, valid for 15 years, for some USD 53 million. Moreover, the Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) recently decided that telecom companies Orange and Vodafone will have to free a portion of the 900 MHz band by the end of 2012, but this would not affect the continuity of their services within said band. The freed up band widths will be up for sale in 2012. Local authorities said that the measure came after market analysis showed that Romanian telecom company RCS & RDS is at a competitive disadvantage to the operators that have a spectrum in the 900 MHz band. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)