Romanian telecom operators say new fees mulled by Govt. are unrealistic

Romanian telecom operators estimate the fees they might have to pay for the 5G operating licenses range between EUR 2.7 billion and EUR 8 billion, based on the provisions of the Government's emergency ordinance 114/2018. They see such fees as rather unrealistic since the fees paid for the 4G licenses amounted to EUR 700 million, local Hotnews.ro reported. Moreover, not all the frequencies initially envisaged for the purposes of carrying 5G services are found in the text of the ordinance. Furthermore, the fees they will be asked to pay for having their 4G licenses renewed are double the fees they paid initially for acquiring them: 4% of their turnover, compared to 2%. The market regulating body ANCOM itself notified the Government, on December 20 (before the ordinance was adopted), that the 3% tax on telecom operators’ turnover breaches the European Union’s regulations. ANCOM also warned the Government that the ordinance hampers the auction for the 5G operating licenses this year as well. Romanian telecom regulator plans auctioning 5G licenses in 2019 editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Pixabay.com)