Romania’s National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has rejected a request by Orange and Vodafone to force RCS&RDS to open up its fixed network to other providers.
According to ZF, ANCOM believes that although RCS&RDS accounts for 45% of fixed internet subscribers in Romania, competition between Telekom Romania, UPC Romania, AKTA and hundreds of smaller companies is so strong that regulatory intervention is not required.
Orange has reacted harshly to the decision, accusing ANCOM of favouring RCS&RDS, which is the country’s leading provider of both cable and DTH services.
In its decision, ANCOM withdrew obligations that had been previously imposed on Telekom Romania (the former Romtelecom) following a similar market analysis undertaken by the regulator in 2010.
ANCOM points out that Romania has the highest degree of infrastructure competition in the EU, with over 750 providers of fixed broadband internet access services as of 2014.
Furthermore, over 60% of access connections allow download speeds of 30Mbps and more, and over two-thirds of the population are in localities covered by at least three networks offering fixed internet access.
