Romania Postpones Launch of Tender for WiMAX Licences to Nov 3

In mid-September the Romanian government decided to establish a new watchdog, the National Communications Authority, ANC, to replace the telecoms authority ANRCTI and the research institute for Information Technology, ICI. Shortly before that, ANRCTI had said that it would launch the tender in mid-October.

WiMAX is a rival technology of the 3G high-speed wireless networks, which offers fast Internet access and file downloads for laptops, phones and other mobile devices over long distances.

"We intend to publish the final version of the tender documentation on November 3, so that the bids can be filed by January 5, 2009," ANC president, Liviu Nistoran, said in a statement.

"If we manage to keep this timeframe, then the winners of the two licences […] will be announced on January 28, 2009," he added.

One WiMAX licence costs 7.5 million euro ($10.2 million).

The potential licence winners will have to develop their WiMAX networks in three phases – by September 2010, by March 2012, and by September 2013. The respective networks should have coverage in at least 50 municipalities by the end of the third phase.

UPC Romania, RomTelecom, and Cosmote Romania have previously expressed interest in bidding for a WiMAX licence.

($ = 0.7332 euro)