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

On February 11, 2022, during the joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, the Agreement on reducing the tariffs for the provision of international roaming services and those of international calls between the two counties was signed. The agreement was concluded for an initial period of 5 years. The National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova (ANRCETI) and the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) provided technical assistance in the negotiation and drafting of this agreement for the benefit of users of electronic communications in the two counties.

"The signing of this agreement is a culmination of the continuous efforts of the authorities of both counties in the recent years. We are glad that we have achieved this goal and that the users of electronic communications services from the two counties will be able to communicate at tariffs as close as possible to the national ones ", said Vlad Stefan STOICA, President of ANCOM.

"Users in both counties have a great need to be able to communicate with each other across the border without having to worry about large bills. The implementation of this agreement will allow us to take the necessary measures for the citizens to feel its direct effects ", said Andrei MUNTEAN, Deputy Director of ANRCETI.

The agreement aims to create the framework for collaboration between the Romanian side and the Moldovan side in order to sustainably reduce the tariffs for the provision of international roaming services on the retail market: voice, SMS and data, respectively international calls between the two countries.

Thus, the scope of the Agreement includes the mobile communications traffic generated by the users of the operators in the Republic of Moldova, who are in roaming in the networks of Romanian operators, as well as the mobile communications traffic generated by users of Romanian operators, who are in roaming in the networks of operators from the Republic of Moldova.

At the same time, the Agreement contains provisions on international calls to the Republic of Moldova made from Romanian telephone numbers, and accordingly - international calls to Romania, made from Moldovan telephone numbers.

The agreement enters into force immediately after the exchange of notes regarding the completion of the necessary national procedures, while ANRCETI and ANCOM will support the implementation of its provisions.

Each Party shall ensure, in accordance with national law, that network operators under their jurisdiction negotiate in good faith with any applicant the technical and commercial conditions for the provision of the following services:
• interconnection for the termination, in its own network, of the calls and SMS from numbers from the other party's country, as well as, where necessary,
• international transit of calls and SMS from numbers in the other party's country to networks in its own country.

The Parties shall encourage the sustainable reduction of the tariffs for the provision, at retail level, of international roaming services, respectively of international calls between the two countries, within a maximum of 3 months from the date of entry into force of the Agreement.

February 11, 2022