Romania’s competition body asks Vodafone, Digi to address concerns prompted by their planned Telekom takeover

Romania’s competition body, Consiliul Concurentei, expressed eight concerns in a press release on April 16 regarding the transactions through which Vodafone Romania intends to take over Telekom Romania Mobile Communications and Digi Romania SA would take over some of the assets of the same company. 

These concerns refer to the potential impact on competition in the telecommunications sector, and the authority invited the two companies involved to submit proposals for commitments that could eliminate these risks.

Bogdan Chiriţoiu, president of the Competition Council, stressed the importance of protecting consumers and ensuring healthy competition: “It is essential that, following these transactions, the quality of services offered to consumers does not decrease, but on the contrary, improves. We want to ensure that networks will operate at high standards, that service coverage and speed will remain competitive, and that infrastructure investment plans will continue.”

Among the concerns raised by the Competition Council are the possible effects on prices and quality of services, especially in relation to mobile internet and prepaid services. In the authority’s analysis, there is a risk that the average data download speed will be affected and spectrum resources will not be fully used. 

The transactions could also reduce competition in the market for access and call origination services in mobile networks, and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) could be disadvantaged due to the disappearance of Telekom as their provider.

Another concern is the possibility that Digi Romania will not maintain prepaid mobile services for Telekom customers, which could lead to a decrease in their quality and prices. In addition, Vodafone’s takeover of Telekom could affect prices for Telekom’s post-paid individual customers and for machine-to-machine (M2M) services.

Digi Romania intends to take over certain assets of Telekom, including the rights to use radio frequencies and its infrastructure, and Vodafone Romania would take over Telekom Romania Mobile Communications SA in its entirety.

The Competition Council invited interested parties to submit comments on these concerns by email or post in order to ensure transparency and public consultation of this important process.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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