Chief telecom regulatory officer Grindeanu: Romania needs national 5G strategy; we will draw up one in autumn

Bucharest, March 25 /Agerpres / - Romania needs a national strategy for 5G communications, and we hope to come up in autumn with this document, which, in the end, has to be approved under a government decision, Chairman of the National Communications Management and Regulatory Authority (ANCOM) Sorin Grindeanu tells AGERPRES in an interview.

At the same time, the chief telecom regulatory officer says that the rules for the implementation of the infrastructure law will be ready this year, while the technical enforcement order for the NetCity metropolitan network will be completed in mid-2018. Grindeanu also mentions the capitalisation of the Romanian Post, claiming that when an attempt was being made for its privatisation, Belgium's bpost came up with an offer he deemed defiant.

On the other hand, Grindeanu mentions that he does not harbour any regrets over no longer holding the office of Romania's prime minister, and that the decision to quit politics, once he accepted the position of ANCOM chairman, was not an easy one.

AGERPRES: For starters, let us talk about the new challenge you have been dealt of being the ANCOM chief officer. How did you get the nomination and why ANCOM?
Sorin Grindeanu: It's been four months since I'm here, maybe more. I'm already past the start-up stage, so it's not a new challenge anymore. I believe the proposal came firstly because I have experience in the field, as you know well, including holding to office of the communications minister, and also membership of the Chamber of Deputies' IT & C Committee. My professional training is in a related area. You should know that's why I accepted this nomination. If I look at it personally, probably my exit from the administrative area would have been much easier. At the same time, what counted very much was the fact that, during the not necessarily calm days of the year past for ANCOM, I mean, I conducted many conversations with the ANCOM employees, who contributed to my decision to come here.

AGERPRES: Was working in the private sector not tempting to you?
Sorin Grindeanu: Yes, it was, but the factors I mentioned earlier mattered more.

AGERPRES: The year 2018 promises to be an interesting one as far as telecoms are concerned: an infrastructure law, 5G communications, lowering fees. What are the latest developments in the infrastructure law?
Sorin Grindeanu: The infrastructure law has been adopted, but there are no implementing rules. We have had talks and I really want ANCOM to be the catalysts in defining these terms in the implementing rules. That would greatly help the market. We are at an advanced stage of dialogue with the Ministry of Development (MDRAP), first of all. We will take the necessary steps, so that the Romanian state may be productive, whether we are talking about ANCOM, MDRAP or the Ministry of Communications. These rules are absolutely necessary. The other challenges are just as great.
I'm sure the implementing rules will be ready this year. We've found a way to dialogue with the Ministry of Development and we hope to advance at the right speed.

AGERPRES: What can you tell us and about this year's auctions proposed by ANCOM and what happens to 5G?
Sorin Grindeanu: You should know that I did not get over the impression I had when I came back from the World Congress Mobile in Barcelona. The 5G will really mean a different approach. Of course, at a short glance at this point, proper 4G provides the necessary services for video streaming and all the things we know. 5G is, however, something else and it will mean a new leap forward. I wish very much for and do not give up on the following: having a national 5G strategy. That is more than an ANCOM strategy. ANCOM's strategy will be mandatory for the sale of those frequency licences. Of course we need to find the right moment for the market to be prepared so that the Romanian state can get the most out of selling those licenses. Considering that 5G means much more than this and that it will "hit" other areas as well, such as agriculture, transport, services, everything that has to do with banks, healthcare, culture, sports; it is normal to have a national strategy. I believe the national 5G strategy is absolutely necessary and we are not reinventing the wheel. There are better-placed countries that already have that - Israel and the UK - to give you two examples. We'd better do it and know that we will do it with the Government, and not only. I think we need to have talks with operators, with the market. There must be a common effort to put things in the right place.

According to a study conducted by some of the largest equipment manufacturers in Romania, it appears that by 2024, around nine billion US dollars will have been invested in what is 5G, less than two billion of which will go to the communications sector. The remaining will be for the industries I mentioned earlier, who, if they want to keep up, will have to make such investment. I say they will. That is why Romania needs this national strategy that has to put things on the right track. I wish that and we will do it. We want to be able to come forth at our annual autumn conference with this strategy, which should ultimately be approved under a government decision in such a way that the limits, the framework, the development guidelines and what can be done will be well known. That does not depend on us only, but we will do our best in our province. I think, however, that more is needed.

AGERPRES: After the steps you will unveil at the ANCOM annual conference, do you have a timeframe for the approval of the strategy?
Sorin Grindeanu: A first step would be to set up, under a memorandum, a working group to develop these measures.

AGERPRES: What does the decrease in termination rates mean to the consumers and what impact will it have on the users' pockets?
Sorin Grindeanu: I hope it will have a positive impact on the consumer's bills. To translate this measure in a more direct, more usual way for the newbies, I say that these termination rates mean one thing: if I, Sorin Grindeanu, a user in a Romanian network, call you, the user of a different network, then my network has to pay your network a certain fee. Reducing the fees should normally have an impact on each user's bill.

AGERPRES: Will you monitor that?
Sorin Grindeanu: Yes. Know that, in a way, the market will compel operators to charge competitive prices. The local market is extremely competitive, which is a very good thing. Operators are emulating each other very well. Romania is the only country in Europe where the largest telecom operators on the continent are operating - Vodafone, Orange and Telekom. There is no other country in Europe where all three operate.

AGERPRES: Is there any room in Romania for other 5G operators?
Sorin Grindeanu: Your question has two aspects. First of all, one thing the operators are aware of is that, with 5G, they have to diversify their services, or else they will lose their way with those who will do so. They cannot remain simply 5G signal providers, as they will have to diversify and their services will have to do so very much. Secondly, regarding 5G, I think there is still room for others ... There will be an open tender to any one wants to participate.

AGERPRES: I understand that the as far as the infrastructure law is concerned, there will be and enforcement notice regarding the NetCity Bucharest metropolitan network. What will this notice mention and when is it expected to be completed?
Sorin Grindeanu: The legal framework has changed slightly compared to what it was in the past. We are currently working on a decision that will be based on a study, but which will not be optional. I had meetings with all the associations and service providers, both big and small. They also know very well these stages that we will be going through in the medium term to lay things down so that there are no longer any question marks left. Somewhere, in the middle of this year, we will be able to clarify that.

AGERPRES: The European Commission has recently warned Romania of slow progress in the digitisation of public services and said there was no coordination inside the government as well as between the government and the IT environment. Is that so?
Sorin Grindeanu: I agree with what the commission says. There should be a greater effort, not that the world does not want to be more digitised ... When I say the world, I mean the decision makers. There is a kind of resistance to digitisation, and maybe from a certain point of view that's normal. What does it mean? I give you an example from my own experience: In 2015, when I was the minister of communications, we were able to resume a project that had been declared lost. It concerned digitising civil status documents, everything that means life events, from birth to death, on European funds. So I had this opportunity. All the decision-makers at the time agreed, whether we are talking about the ministry I led, or the Interior Ministry. Things got stuck, however, in a typical bureaucratic manner at the level of offices, services, directions from various ministries.

Why do I think it to be a normal attitude to a certain extent? Because there are people who have been taught to have various things under their direct control, and who perhaps have the impression that with this process they lose their purpose or importance in this hierarchy.

AGERPRES: You mean to say it's just excessive zeal...
Sorin Grindeanu: Not just that...

AGERPRES: Speaking of the services of telecom operators on the Romanian market, recently one of them has faced a rather serious technical problem that affected millions of subscribers to voice and mobile services for hours. ANCOM has started an investigation into that ... What are the findings and what is the risk to that telecom operator?
Sorin Grindeanu: I had meetings with Telekom representatives during this period. We have a procedure that we put into practice. We have asked for the necessary documents and as we speak we are at the stage where all these documents are being studied and, depending on all of this, we will make a decision. It was a technical problem. It was not an external matter - at one point there was a rumour that it was a cyber-attack, but that is not the case, at least not from the information we have.

AGERPRES: Have complaints been received in connection with this technical issue?
Sorin Grindeanu: Yes, they have. The procedure would have been was triggered automatically even in the absence of complaints. We are within this procedure and we treat it very seriously. In my four months in office, that is certainly the biggest incident I have witnessed, but I asked my colleagues and they told me that that is perhaps the biggest incident of its kind in recent years.

AGERPRES: Also about the complaints, what is the situation overall?
Sorin Grindeanu: The complaints and petitions received in the first three months of the year are 60% more than in the similar period of 2017. This means that our organisation has become better known, which, in a certain way, is also normal. Moreover, I asked my colleagues to become even more active. This year, we will conduct at least two national awareness and education campaigns. It is normal for us to conduct these campaigns just to prevent some of the misfortunes of the users. ANCOM, beyond being the market's watchdog, may also play a more important role: taking care of users. The campaign will include promotion in the media.

AGERPRES: What is your take on the intention of the government to capitalise the Romanian Post?
Sorin Grindeanu: It is a very good decision. From my point of view, I have a weak spot for the Romanian Post, but that is personal. Being the oldest Romanian company, established in 1865 - if I am not mistaken - and among the largest local employers, I believe that it is normal for the government to try to revitalise the Romanian Post. The data I have - it is true that they are from of 2015- indicating that the Romanian Post needed about 100 million euros for re-tooling back then.
This injection of capital is needed. What I can assure you is that ANCOM will look at things properly, as an arbiter.

AGERPRES: Privatisation could still be a solution?
Sorin Grindeanu: That has been tried even while I was in office. I can tell you now, three years later, that I considered the offer of the bpost to be defiant. I believe that I do not violate any law if I am telling you now that they had come up with a non-bidding offering of 20 million euros to buy the Romanian Post. With all the things that generated some losses, I think that offering was made in an unserious manner, and that's why I declined it and moved on.
AGERPRES: What will ANCOM decide after December 31, 2018, when the Romanian Post capacity of a universal post services provider expires, and I mean net cost compensation?

Sorin Grindeanu: That does not depend on us; it depends on them being able to build their case so that things may continue. It is a procedure that we will apply.
AGERPRES: I would like to change the register a bit and talk about politics: you were the prime minister for a while ... Do you regret something of that period?
Sorin Grindeanu: I regret that at the time when I was the prime minister I would sign fewer papers than I am doing now, and I'm not kidding. But know that I do not feed on regrets. It would be hypocritical of me to say that I would not have wanted to sit through my entire term in office. There was a lot to be done, but now I have a completely different "mission" that I want to accomplish to the best of my ability. I like it; it's my cup of tea. It took time to persuade many, but first of all those inside ANCOM, to accept me going there. After taking this decision, I think my role is to do my best here. There is no time for regrets.

AGERPRES: Would you ever accept the office of the prime minister?
Sorin Grindeanu: I do not want me eschewing your question to seen obvious, but I think that at this stage, what I'm doing here, beyond the fact that I really like it, is what I care about very seriously. Me accepting the ANCOM post entailed getting out of politics, which I did. It was not easy for me because I had been a member of a political party for many years, but when I made that decision that was it.

AGERPRES: As a former member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), what is your take on the March 10 convention of the PSD Congress, given that some party officials challenged its organisation?
Sorin Grindeanu: I am no longer a member, as I was saying, but that does not mean that I do not pay close attention to what is happening on the political stages. I can tell you in the best of faith that I hope this settlement time is over ... I think it's over, and the government can resume working full speed ahead. I'm sure they will.

AGERPRES: Have you kept in touch with PSD leaders?
Sorin Grindeanu: I talk very much with them.

AGERPRES: When did you last talk to [PSD national leader] Liviu Dragnea?
Sorin Grindeanu: I was in Parliament with the minister of communications, Romanian Post officials and the finance minister for a discussion on what the Romanian Post means. It was back then that I met...

AGERPRES: Current Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, have you talked to her since she took office? What advice would you give her?
Sorin Grindeanu: I called her. I wish her great success. I know very well that it's not an easy position.

AGERPRES: What do you think about the latest press revelations in the field of justice?
Sorin Grindeanu: I will answer in broad terms. Excesses, on either side and from any angle we look at them, are not healthy. We need to be more steadied, and I mean here everything. I think we must continue on our tracks inside the European Union very seriously. These are the values for which the Romanian people have made important efforts so that Romania may become a member of the European Union and NATO. That is the way that I think the entire political class in Romania is following. Starting from these principles, each country has its peculiarities, so you cannot compare North Europeans with those in the South, or those in the East with those in the West, because of history, experiences, the way of being of each of the nations.

It is a common effort around common principles, because that is the case in the European Union. This path is not always the simplest, but it is the right way that our country has to travel.

AGERPRES: Are politicians tempted to try to influence the administration of justice?
Sorin Grindeanu: There will always be such temptation, regardless of the government, whether you are in the opposition or at rule. Of course, you have more power when you are at rule, but I believe that Romania's legal system is underpinned by fundamentals that do not allow political interference with justice.

AGERPRES: Do you believe the recent revelations of Sebastian Ghita, your former party colleague, are true?
Sorin Grindeanu: I have seen something, I admit that not all of the parts or episodes. I have seen rather what happened after, in terms of news stories ... Honestly, I have no reason to say that he is lying, but I also have no reason to say that he is telling the truth. I think that it eventually will be proved whether or not he told the truth. If that were not the case, everything would be gossiping, scandal that disappears after a week, a month or two, and nothing remains. I do not think anyone wants that. That's exactly why we will see if things have legs or it's just a scandal.

AGERPRES: Victor Ponta has launched a new party on the political stages, Pro Romania. Do you think it will be successful? Does it tempt you to cooperate with him?
Sorin Grindeanu: I appreciate your way of asking questions and going back to the same point, but I tell you what I was saying at the beginning of the interview: I am at this stage of my life, which I really enjoy. I very seriously care about doing my job well together with my colleagues. For the time being, the part with politics is a no go. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)