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

The Administrative Board of the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) decided on Tuesday, November 24, to release to company Orange Moldova two new licenses for the right to use radio frequencies available in the bands 800 MHz and e900 MHz, for the provision of public terrestrial cellular communications networks and services. A day earlier, the Board designated Orange Moldova as winner of the license auction for radio frequencies in the bands 800, e900, 2100, 2600 and 3400-3800 MHz, organized by ANRCETI on September 25 - November 23, 2015.

As a result of the auction, company Orange Moldova obtained two licenses for the use of frequencies: one for a 20 MHz sub-band (2x10 MHz, FDD regime) in 800 MHz band and another - for a 10 MHz sub-band (2x5 MHz, FDD regime) in e900 MHz band, both radio frequencies allotted for terrestrial mobile communications. Thus, Orange Moldova will benefit from a spectrum resource portfolio 18% higher than it does today.

16 licenses for the use of radio frequencies were put up for sale at the auction: for a sub-band in 800 MHz band, two sub-bands in E900 MHz the band, two sub-bands in 2100 MHz band, three sub-bands in 2600 MHz band and eight sub-bands in 3400-3800 MHz bands. ANRCETI auctioned those licenses in accordance with the Spectrum Management Program for 2013-2020, approved by Government Decision no. 116 of 11.02.2013, with subsequent amendments. Only one auction participant – company Orange Moldova, filed the application in accordance with the requirements of the Terms of Reference and was nominated as auction winning bidder.

Unclaimed licenses will be periodically put up for further auctions by ANRCETI during the timeframe 2016-2020. The licenses are valid for 15 years from the date of issue, unless the license is issued to a provider who already holds a license in the same frequency band. In such cases, the term of license validity, under the mentioned Programme, is synchronized with the expiry term of the license held by the supplier.

For Orange Moldova, the two new licenses will be valid through November 5, 2029. For both licenses, company Orange Moldova will have to pay 11 million 905,2 thousand Euro in MDL equivalent to the state budget. This sum represents the cumulative value of license price for the frequencies in 800 MHz and e900 MHz bands, as set by the Government in the Spectrum Management Program for 2013-2020.

Previously, in August 2014 ANRCETI issued to company Orange Moldova three licenses for the use radio frequencies available in the bands 800, 900 and 1800 MHz (one license per block of frequencies in each of the three bands) for the purpose of providing public terrestrial cell mobile communication networks and services. For those three licenses, Orange Moldova paid to the state budget 25,5 million Euro in MDL equivalent.

November 25, 2015