Orange and Vodafone's GSM mobile telephony licenses, which thetwo companies won in 1996 for 75 million dollars each are set toexpire in December 2011, therefore the state and the operators mustreach an agreement on the renewal terms.
Although the state's financing needs will increase, as the"instalments" on the loan taken from the International MonetaryFund alone are set to reach 12 billon euros from 2012 through 2014,the government has to take into account the fact that Dialog(Orange) and Mobifon (Connex) will not pay a similar amount afterthe expiration of the license, the operators warn.
"As stipulated in the license agreement terms, we have the right toextend its validity. There is no provision about the payment of anextension fee," Liliana Solomon, CEO of Vodafone Romania told ZF.Moreover even the fee itself is challenged for not having been a"licensing" fee. "We have to say that the fees we paid in the pastwere not licensing fees but were actually paid for spectrumclearing by the National Defence Ministry and as such, legallyspeaking, they were a different type of fee," Solomon adds.
Thierry Millet, CEO of Orange Romania says: "Our licence expires onthe 31st of December so that we expect it to be renewed, of course.We would like the license renewal terms to be as clearly defined aspossible because it will influence the planning of ourinvestments."
The Orange and Vodafone's GSM license extension conditions will beset by the Government and the Communications Regulatory Authority(ANCOM) by yearend, at which time the issue of fee payment will becleared up, as well.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
