IT, Media and Telecommunications Newsletter No. 1/2009
Decision No. 154 dated March 3, 2009 on identifying the relevant markets for the analogue terrestrial broadcasting transmission of public radio and television program services.
The markets for the analogue terrestrial broadcasting transmission of public radio and television program services include: (i) the initial analogue terrestrial broadcasting of public audiovisual program services at a national and local level; (ii) the transport of these services through electronic communications networks; (iii) the final transmission, in their integrality and without modification, in view of their reception by the end-users.
Depending on the different characteristics of the provision of television program services, respectively of radio program services, the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) identified three relevant markets likely to be regulated:
(i) the analogue broadcasting of public television program services market;
(ii) the analogue terrestrial broadcasting transmission of public radio program services in FM frequency band market;
(iii) the analogue terrestrial broadcasting transmission of public radio program services in AM frequency band market.The National Radio Communications Company was designated as operator with significant market power on the above mentioned markets, ANCOM imposing obligations of tariff control and of cost-oriented settled tariffs.
Government Emergency Ordinance No. 22/2009 establishing the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications.
ANC has been reorganized into the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), and passed under parliamentary control.The attributions in the IT field were assumed by the Ministry of Communications and Information Society, whereas ANCOM kept its attributions concerning the application and enforcement of Law no. 196/2003 on the prevention and fighting of pornography. Thus, the Ministry of Communications and Information Society took over the following attributions:
- the supervision and enforcement of the legal provisions in the field of e-commerce;
- the regulatory and supervisory attributions in the field of electronic signature;
- the regulatory and supervisory attributions in the field of time stamp;
- the regulatory and supervisory attributions in the field of electronic notaries activity;
- the regulatory and supervisory attributions in the field of electronic archiving of documents;
- the supervision and enforcement of the legal provisions in the field of IT systems for issuing electronic invoices, in its capacity of regulatory, certification and supervisory authority.
The same enactment establishes that the National Institute for Research and Development I.C.I Bucharest shall resume its attributions concerning the organization, administration and management at national level of the TLD (top level domain) “.ro”, and shall also act as registry for the domain name “ro“.
ANCOM announced on March 10, 2009, the organization of two public tenders for the designation of the universal service provider that will make available to the end users a subscriber directory and for the designation of the universal service provider that will make available to end users a directory enquiry service. The designated universal service providers will have the obligation to create and manage complete databases, including telephone and fax numbers and certain identification data of all subscribers to the publicly available telephony services in Romania (including pre-pay card users).
Any provider of publicly available electronic communications services may submit offers for any of the two public tenders or for both, until the latest on April 29, 2009, 16:00 PM. In order to be considered for the public tender having as object the designation of an universal service provider for directory enquiry services, the interested applicants have to be entitled to use at least one number from the range 118(xyz).The designation of the providers shall be made based on the best offer criteria. Hence, the offers of the providers shall be pointed based on pre-determined criteria, out of which the most important (representing 70% of the final score) is the value of the amount supported by the applicant from the costs determined by obtaining the database containing the relevant information of the subscribers from the telephony service providers. If this amount is lower than the amount necessary for the set-up and up-dating of the complete data-base, the difference shall be supported by ANCOM from the contributions of the electronic communications network providers and of the publicly available phone services providers.
The designated provider for registries of subscribers shall provide to the users a free of charge electronic service for access to the complete registry of subscribers, while the provider of the information service on subscribers shall provide to the users during the same call at least 2 numbers of a subscriber from any fixed or mobile electronic communication network in against payment, if the case may be. The designation period is, in principle, of 2 years as from the date when each of the services are made available for the end-users, for the first time.
