Competition Council to pronounce itself on sale of Telekom Romania Mobile by end-June, says head of Communications Authority

The Competition Council will make the final analysis regarding the sale of Telekom Romania Mobile and could give an answer by the end of June, the head of the Monitoring and Control Department of the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), Cristian Popa, stated on Tuesday, at the 7th edition of the "Digital Romania Forum."

"Indeed, (...) reaching three operators instead of four, the competition will decrease slightly. However, we are in consultations and very close discussions with the Competition Council and, when this sale is finalized, we want the two operators that will benefit from the sale of Telekom to have very clear investment obligations, very good commitments to increase coverage and quality. What is encouraging is the fact that it has been established that all the masts will remain in the air, so no infrastructure elements will be lost. In addition, there is a commitment that the allocated frequency bands will remain divided between the two service providers, which means that we will certainly have an increase in coverage at the national level, both at Vodafone and Digi. Also, the quality part will increase greatly, considering the new frequency bands that will be in the portfolio of the two operators and will automatically be able to provide a wider band, a better data transfer capacity "to the end user," said Popa.

Asked when the transaction will be finalized, the ANCOM official said that a firm answer would be announced by the Competition Council by the end of June.

On the other hand, regarding the telecommunications market in Romania, at the level of 2024, of the 21.7 million active mobile Internet connections, 18.6 million were 4G and/or 5G.

"In 2024, we had 21.7 million active mobile Internet connections, of which 18.6 million used 4G and 5G. The number of 5G connections increased by 53% in 2024, reaching 3.5 million, i.e. 16% of the total. 4G technology obviously remains the main technology that ensures mobile data transfer, with 93% of mobile Internet traffic (...) 5G contributes with 4% of mobile Internet traffic (...). The communications infrastructure in Romania is one of the most efficient in the European Union," Popa pointed out.

Representatives of the authorities and cybersecurity specialists participate, on Tuesday, in the 7th edition of the "Digital Romania Forum" event.