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Telecom. IT: Orange, RCS&RDS and Vodafone to pay 432.6 million euros to state budget for 5G frequencies obtained
The total amount that the Romanian state will collect from the budget from the granting of licenses for 5G frequencies is 432.6 million euros, the chairman of the National Communications Administration and Regulation Authority (ANCOM), Vlad Stoica, announced in a press conference on Tuesday.
According to the head of ANCOM, the winners of the auction are Orange Romania, RCS&RDS and Vodafone Romania, and the three companies purchased a spectrum of 420 MHz, respectively 76% of the total offered.
Of the amount attracted, Orange Romania paid the most, approximately 264 million euros, then Vodafone Romania, with 122.5 million euros, and RCS&RDS, with 45.5 million euros.
The winners will operate in the 700 MHz, 1500 MHz, 2600 MHz and 3400 - 3800 MHz frequency bands.
During the selection procedure, ANCOM will grant usage rights that will come into force from 2023, respectively 2026 and will have a validity period of 25 years, respectively 22 years. The exception is the rights in the 2600 MHz band, for which the validity period will be 6 years and 3 months, necessary for alignment with the other existing rights in this band.
The cumulative value of the starting prices established by Government Decision no. 1139/2022 is 693 million euros. These values were determined by taking into account a number of factors, including the national and European references regarding the license values in each band among those subject to the selection procedure, the physical properties of the bands, the existing rights in the frequency bands, as well as the duration and conditions of use of the rights that will be granted.
The same factors apply to the license fee.
Thus, the Authority proposed that the license fee be paid in stages, in the first years of the validity of the licenses, the sum of the starting prices being, initially, 693 million euros. The license fee was approved by Government Decision and becomes revenue for the state budget.
ANCOM announced on October 28 that, until the deadline, it had received three participation applications for the allocation of 555 MHz in these frequency bands, from Orange Romania, RCS & RDS and Vodafone Romania.
Later, ANCOM transmitted that all three candidacies were validated, and a first round of the 5G frequency bidding procedure was to be organized on November 8.