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Auction for Regional Digital Television Multiplexes, Completed
12.02.2015
The auction commission within ANCOM announces that the auction for awarding regional digital television multiplexes in Romania has been completed. Following the allocation round, the allotted multiplexes and the amounts the bidders will pay for them have been established.
The companies Regal and Cargo Sped entered the allocation round, during which the specific allocation for the categories with several multiplexes available was determined, upon the bidders’ payment of an additional amount for the preferred allocation of the acquired multiplexes. Thus, Regal acquired 1 regional multiplex (Ramnicu Valcea) against EUR8,010, representing the licence fee, whereas Cargo Sped won1 regional multiplex (Sibiu) against EUR8,001.
2K Telecom acquired 5 regional multiplexes (4 in Bucharest and 1 in Ploiesti) for which it will pay EUR52,000, Radio M Plus obtained 1 regional multiplex (Iasi) against EUR10,000, and Digital Video Broadcast won 1 regional multiplex (Satu Mare) and will have to pay EUR8,000. All licences are granted for the 17.06.2015 – 17.06.2025 period.
The licences, amounting to a total of EUR86,011, are to be paid to the state budget within 90 calendar days from the announcement of the results.
The winners of the regional multiplexes will be able to start the provision of commercial television broadcasting services after 17 June 2015. By 1 May 2017, they will have to launch into operation at least one transmitter in each assignment area.
A digital multiplex is a group of radio broadcasting and television programmes, additional multimedia services and other associated identification data transmitted from the emission stations to the end-users by terrestrial radio means, using digital modulation within the limits of a standard television channel/frequency block.
According to the International Agreement signed in 2006 by Romania and another approx. 100 countries at the RRC06 conference in Geneva, the terrestrial analogue television stations will no longer have the right to use the frequency band they are currently using as of 17 June 2015, and they are to be replaced by digital television transmissions. By Government Decision no. 403/2013 for the approval of the Strategy regarding the digital switchover and the implementation of multimedia services on a national level, alongside other measures regarding the digital switchover, the Government of Romania undertook the obligation to complete the analogue switch off until 17 June 2015.
Following the auction for awarding national digital multiplexes, completed on 10 June 2014, three national multiplexes were awarded to the National Broadcasting Company S.A. The company won the multiplex under the free to air broadcasting obligation and two other multiplexes in the UHF band against the amount of EUR1,020,002, representing the licence fee.
