Commission approves ANCOM’s plan to reintroduce regulation in fixed wholesale local access in Romania

The European Commission has decided today to lift its serious doubts concerning Romania's plan to reintroduce regulation on the wholesale local access market provided at a fixed location, in light of the information gathered in the in-depth investigation.

In January 2025, the Romania's telecommunications regulator ANCOM proposed to reintroduce regulation on this market to prevent price increases and protect consumer choice, identifying DIGI Romania S.A. as having significant market power. The Commission initially questioned ANCOM's draft measures, arguing that barriers to entry were not high enough to justify wholesale regulation and warned of potential investment risks.

However, after a Phase 2 investigation, including input from the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and further cooperation with ANCOM, the Commission reassessed its position. Key findings include:

• Rural market challenges: Low population density, limited purchasing power, and DIGI's first-mover advantage limit competitors' incentives to build parallel networks.
• Limited efficiency of physical infrastructure access: While ducts and poles exist, they do not enable rapid network rollout in rural areas and economic incentives for investment remain weak.
• No evidence of investment harm: The proposed regulation is unlikely to deter DIGI's future investments and overall sector investment remains strong.

The Commission considers ANCOM's proposed remedies - targeted only at non-competitive areas - to be proportionate and justified. ANCOM may proceed with its regulatory measures.

The full decision will soon be published on CIRCABC.

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