National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova

3. Licenses for the Use of Radio Frequencies and Channels

General Provisions

The right to use one or more radio frequencies or channels in the provision of electronic communications services is conferred in compliance with Law no.241-XVI on Electronic Communications, the Regulations on General Authorization Regime and License Issuance for the Use of Limited Resources in the Provision of Public Electronic Communications Networks and Services, approved by ANRCETI Administrative Board Decision no. 57 of 21.12.2010 and License Conditions for the use of radio frequencies or channels.

Remark: Radio frequencies or channels are state property and their use is subject to licensing.

Who can apply for a license?

A license is an administrative act by which the Agency confers, to providers registered through a notification (general authorization), under Law no.241-XVI, the right to provide one or more radio frequencies or channels in the provision of telephone networks services, air/cable radio or television networks and/or stations.

Where the number of licenses for the use of radio frequencies or channels is limited, they are granted to legal persons by tender or by direct accordance, on condition that the granted right is a successive evolution for the network already in place and provided under authorization.

What documents are required to obtaining a license?

a) The following documents must be submitted in order to obtain a license for the use of radio frequencies or channels for telephone networks:
- Declaration/Application (Annex no.6 to the Regulations - doc. in state language);
- Business Plan.

Remark: where a license is granted by tender, additional documents are required, according to the tender terms of reference.

b) The following documents must be submitted in order to obtain a license for the use of radio frequencies or channels for on-air radio and/or television networks and/or stations:
- Declaration/Application (Annex no.6 to the Regulations - doc. in state language);
- Copy of the broadcasting license or re-transmission authorization issued by the Audiovisual Coordinating Council;
- Technical project of the radio/TV station, authorized by the National Center for Radio Frequencies.

c) The following documents must be submitted in order to obtain a license for the use of radio frequencies or channels for cable radio and/or television networks and/or stations:
- Declaration/Application (Annex no.6 to the Regulations - doc. in state language);
- Copy of the broadcasting license or re-transmission authorization, issued by the Audiovisual Coordinating Council.

Remark: where such a license is applied for, the Agency has the right to verify the possibility of compliance by the applicant of the conditions associated with the right to use a radio frequency or channel. For this purpose, the applicant may be required to provide information proving his capacity to comply to those conditions. Where the applicant fails to provide the requested information, his application can be rejected.

Remark: where licenses, limited in number, are directly granted (direct accordance), the application must be complemented with the business plan, which includes the abstract description of the network and/or service, quality indicators and conditions of service provision, applicant’s technical and financial capacity to implement the proposed project and to fulfill the license conditions.

How are the application and the associated documents submitted to the Agency?

The documents can be submitted to the Agency in one of the following ways:
- by submitting personally or by a representative of the applicant o provider, under signature;
- by registered mail with advice of delivery.

The date applied by the Agency representative in charge of confirming the receipt of the application or of the registered mail with advice of delivery is considered as the date of application receipt.

Remark: The application is considered successful on condition that all the legal requirements for submission, form and content of the documents have been met.

How long does it take for the Agency to adopt a decision?

Decisions on license issuance for use of radio frequencies or channels are adopted and made publicly available as soon as possible after a full application has been received, though no later than in 6 weeks, except licenses issued through a tender, for which the lead time is maximum 8 months. The applicant must abide by a number of technical parameters provided for in the License Conditions – an integral part of the license.

Remark: Licenses are issued upon confirmation that all bills provided by the Agency have been paid.

How License Concession Takes Place?

A network provider, intending to concede one or more licenses, shall submit to ANRCETI an application, which shall be a filled-in Form (doc. in state language), supplemented by additional documents, as listed in Art. 9 of the Procedure for Concession of Licenses (doc. in state language) for the Use of Limited Resources, approved by Administrative Board Decision no.08 of 25.02.2010.

What is the license validity term?

The validity term of licenses for the use of radio frequencies and channels is 5 years (including the term of license suspension), except:
a) Licenses for the use of radio frequencies and channels where their number is limited, for which the validity term is 15 years;
b) Licenses for the use of radio frequencies or channels for radio or television networks and/or stations that are issued for the validity term of broadcasting licenses or re-transmission authorizations, whereas for terrestrial analogical television – for a term not exceeding the deadline for transition to terrestrial digital television;
c) Licenses for the use of radio frequencies issued for networks intended for experiments or occasional transmissions, for which the validity term is maximum 6 months;
d) Licenses requested for a terms shorter than 5 years.

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