Romania’s National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has confirmed that demand from operators for frequencies currently being auctioned will not exceed supply, as had previously been suspected. Last month the regulator revealed that the holding of primary rounds of bidding would be required because the initial number of bids surpassed the available spectrum blocks in at least one frequency band. However, in the event several frequency allocations went unclaimed, prompting the introduction of additional rounds of bids for the unassigned spectrum, which are scheduled for later this week. ANCOM previously described the auction as its largest ever single allocation of frequencies. The bandwidths are being made available for the provision of wireless services covering the period 2013-2029 and include spectrum in the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2600MHz bands.
Operators participating in the auction are Vodafone Romania, Cosmote Romania, Orange Romania, Romania Cable Systems (RCS&RDS) and 2K Telecom. While the majority of the bidders are already prominent presences within the domestic wireless market, 2K Telecom is something of an unknown quantity. The broadband provider, which was founded by local business man Sebastian Ghita in 2000, claims to operate a nationwide data network, with coverage in most cities and towns of over 10,000 inhabitants. While its primary focus is thought to be the enterprise market, 2K also offers wholesale WiMAX connectivity in partnership with a number of other companies.