Cristin Popa, ANCOM: “We are ready to launch the 5G auction”

“When we talk about smart cities we must also think about infrastructure. Nothing can be developed without a sustainable and well thought out infrastructure. Romania has weaknesses, but also its strengths. We have a well-thought-out infrastructure, a mature competitive market, at reasonable prices. We must turn our attention to the rural area, where we see a gap with the urban environment,” Cristin Popa, Executive Director Monitoring and Control Executive Division, ANCOM said during the Smart Transformation Forum powered by The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“Central and local authorities should intervene. The general problem is access to passive infrastructure. We need to think about long-term infrastructure development, not just the immediate profit that each local community must have. Another strong point is that Romanians have an appetite for data consumption. Instead, we have major shortcomings when it comes to digital education. One fifth of Romanians have never used the Internet, less than one third of Romanians have minimal skills for digitization,” he explained.

“5G technology will help the development of smart cities through accessibility to the population. 5G also generates a development on fiber to the end user. ANCOM is ready to launch the 5G auction. I have to make some clarifications here. The auction for 5G is for the allocation of technologically neutral frequency bands. It is addressed to mobile operators, not to equipment manufacturers.

We also have to elaborate the government decision which sets the minimum prices for the frequency slots put up for auction. In addition, Parliament must complete the transposition of the memorandum with the United States, a strategic partnership that we must take into account.”

The event benefited from the support of GOLD PARTNERS Distributie Oltenia, Bosch, SDEE Muntenia Nord, Vastint, EY, Next-E, MOL, Siemens, Group Renault, SAS, Signify Romania, Transelectrica, PARTNERS Engie, Sea One, Wave, supporting authorities and associations ADR, ANCOM, ANIS, ClujIT, ACUE, FabLab Iasi and Media Partners Outsourcing Today, Financial Intelligence, Economistul, Romania Durabila, Club Economic and PIN Magazine.