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Brief history
The replacement of analogue broadcasting by digital broadcasting was decided at the Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC06), organised by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), in 2006, when countries of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Iran signed the Geneva 2006 Agreement, adopting a new frequency plan for all the signatory countries, a plan that replaced the one for analogue broadcasting. This step was taken with a view to rendering more efficient the usage of the radio spectrum, which had been increasingly claimed for mobile communications.
During the RRC06 conference in Geneva, Romania - along 100 other countries - signed an Agreement laying down 17 June 2015 as a deadline by which the spectrum usage right of analogue terrestrial television stations will cease in the currently used band, analogue broadcasting being replaced by digital terrestrial television (DTT). This Agreement was ratified by Law no.378/2009 on ratifying theFinal Acts of the Regional Radiocommunication Conference for planning of the digital terrestrial broadcasting service in parts of Regions 1 and 3, in the frequency bands 174-230 MHz and 470-862 MHz, and of those for reviewing the Stockholm Agreement of 1961, signed in Geneva, on 16 June 2006.
In October 2009, the Strategy regarding the digital switchover and the implementation of digital multimedia services on a national level was published, and in May 2010 the selection procedures, awarding conditions, licence fee and an updated implementation calendar were established for 2 digital national multiplexes, by Government Decision no. 464/2010 on granting the licences for the use of the radio spectrum in digital terrestrial system.
Based on this Decision, in July 2010, ANCOM starts the auction procedure for awarding two licences for the use of the radio spectrum in digital terrestrial television system. SC RCS&RDS SA, SC Romtelecom SA, Telediffusion de France (TDF), the National Broadcasting Company, SC MediaSat SRL, Osterreichische Rundfunksender GmbH&Co KG (ORS) and General Satellite Sofia purchased the Terms of Reference. The same year, following the publication, in the Romanian Official Journal, of the Government Decision no. 833/2010 on amending the Strategy regarding the digital switchover and the implementation of digital multimedia services on a national level – a normativ act that changed the legal frameowrk applicable in the procedure of awarding the licences for operating the two DTT multiplexes, ANCOM stopped the auction for the first two DTT multiplexes, which was under way.
In 2013, the Romanian Government Decision no. 403/2013 on approving the Strategy regarding the digital switchover and the implementation of digital multimedia services on a national level was published and based on it ANCOM organised three auctions for awarding digital terrestrial television multiplexes, between March 2014 – March 2015.
