Orange Romania CEO Jean-Francois Fallacher has told local business daily Ziarul Financiar (ZF) that following the successful conclusion of the government’s spectrum auction earlier this week, the cellco plans to introduce Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in Bucharest by the end of this year. The network will utilise frequencies in the 1800MHz band.
Meanwhile, in a separate report by ZF, Vodafone Romania CEO Inaki Berroeta, has suggested that his company will inaugurate its own 4G service early next year. ‘We are very pleased with the results of telecom auction that brought us the spectrum needed to further develop our mobile data strategy based on LTE technology. Vodafone will be able to launch 4G services in early 2013, which will allows to maintain our competitive edge. In the near future we will begin to perform the test on our network,’ Berroeta said.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in the spectrum auction Orange obtained two frequency blocks in the 800MHz band, two blocks in the 900MHz band, four blocks in the 1800MHz band and four blocks in the 2600MHz band, all of which are valid between 2014 and 2029. Further, Orange also acquired a number of short-term licences in the 900MHz band (five blocks), 1800MHz band (three blocks), which are valid between 1 January 2013 and 5 April 2014, bringing it in line with certain rivals. Meanwhile, Vodafone obtained two spectrum blocks in the 800MHz band, two blocks in the 900MHz band, six blocks in the 1800MHz band and one 15MHz block in the 2600MHz band, all of which are also valid between 2014 and 2029. In addition, the cellco won short-term concessions in the 900MHz band (five blocks) and 1800MHz band (three blocks), which are valid between 1 January 2013 and 5 April 2014. Vodafone will pay EUR228.52 million for its spectrum rights.