May Romanian Telecom market trend be reversed?

On 29th of May 2025, the “May Romanian Telecom market be reversed” event was organized in Bucharest by ISOC Romania Chapter, ANISP (Romanian Association of Internet Service Providers) and Interlan association.

This was the first ever event organized in Romania on a sensitive subject in our internal telecom market today: the decrease of competitivity leading to a lower Internet resilience in Romania. The one day event was based on the results of Internet Society Pulse statistics for Romania:
https://pulse.internetsociety.org/en/reports/ro/
The same trends were also visible from the ANCOM statistics (ANCOM – The National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications):
https://sscpds.ancom.ro/ro/communications/rapoarte-statistice

In some previous international events, organized or co-organized by ISOC Romanian Chapter, like RONOG 2023 & RONOG 2024 and also RITE 2023 and RITE 2024, this subject was already mentioned during the events’ round tables or partially in the Q/A sessions. But this was for the first time when a full event was dedicated to the topic, taking the advantage of ISOC Pulse statistics country results for Romania. Also, the independence and prestige of Internet Society as a Global and Neutral Non Profit Organization working to keep the Internet open, secure and accessible to everyone was very important for pushing this event to both media & authorities attention.

The event organized at the JW Marriott Grand Hotel in Bucharest was also attended by other associations from the IT&C industry, the main providers of electronic communications services, journalists especially from the IT and economic spheres, as well as representatives of the authorities with competence in the field of competition and electronic communications. An unusual fact – representatives of ANCOM, the institution with the most important role in regulating the domestic market of electronic communications services – did not have a point of view on the debated issue, although providers of electronic communications networks and services have been drawing attention to market concentration (and the undesirable effects deriving from this concentration) for many years. Thus, the Romanian provider that holds a share of approximately 75% of the fixed broadband Internet traffic exhibits behaviors that contradict the ideas of an open, secure and reliable Internet. Such behavior is the refusal to peer on mutually advantageous terms on the local market, although peering is a tool of utmost importance for all operators and for the quality of services provided to end customers as well.

This behavior shows that the dominant operator behaves independently of the market, which – combined with the market share held – also constitutes a strong signal in the direction of a conclusion of abuse of dominant position. The independence from the market is obvious – all other Internet service providers choosing to peer through multiple paths (direct interconnections and/or participation in one or even two Internet eXchange points).

Moreover, the refusal to conclude Internet interconnection agreements on equivalent, mutually advantageous bases may indicate the intention to use the size of one’s own network and the users trapped in the network as a barrier to entry for other players. Indeed, according to the statistics of the regulatory authority, the number of Internet providers has experienced a sharp decrease. And if part of this decrease is a natural phenomenon in a free market economy (consolidations, mergers, acquisitions), the fact that no new players appear is symptomatic of the existence of real barriers to entry. This – by the way – is the third criterion, besides the presence of independent behaviors and besides a market share of over 40% – which indicates a possible polarization in the market.

But beyond the competitive market situation – the lack of peering between the dominant operator and other providers certainly undermines the open nature of the Internet, with users finding themselves inside (or outside as the case may be) a “walled garden”, same as happened in the 2000s in mobile telephony networks, before European regulatory authorities imposed the change of traffic to regulated, cost-based tariffs.

It also affects the “secure Internet” character – the Internet being par excellence a network of networks, not a series of small, poorly interconnected islands. By forcing the exchange of traffic far outside the country, IP connections not only lose a lot in terms of latency, but also expose themselves to many additional risks, by increasing the attack surface (man-in-the-middle attacks, DDOS, eaves dropping, compromising the security of equipment along the route, etc.).

An excellent intervention was given by the representative of the Competition Council, who detailed the legal conditions under which complaints can be filed, so that the Council is able to open a specialized investigation. Representatives of the associative environment from industry as well as from civil society recalled the main types of complaints that can be filed, as well as the advantages / disadvantages that arise from each approach. It is also important that even an association, an NGO, can file complaints with the Competition Council, not just a directly injured party.

Also, situations were covered in which the distribution market for audio-visual programs (especially TV, including online TV, OTT, etc.) is strongly affected by the pricing policies of large players, legally unjustified wholesale policies, and the compensation of a sales and marketing service.

During the event, Robbie Mitchell from the Internet Society detailed the data sources and conclusions of the aforementioned study. The presence of Robbie Mitchell on behalf of ISOC as a main presenter in this event, due to his expertise in Pulse statistics presentations, was an important asset, tailoring the event on the main topic and enabling debates from the audience. Valuable Pulse data interpretations regarding Romania and the whole region were very important in this context.

Afterwards, the participants discussed the impact on competition, quality of services and the resilience of the internet, highlighting the causes of the negative aspects and outlining the necessary steps to return to a healthy competitive environment; mainly: the intervention of the Romanian electronic communications market arbitrator (ANCOM) especially to ensure access to the local loop and ensure the interconnection of networks at local level; the revision of the audiovisual legislation to ensure fair competition also with regard to TV or triple-play service packages.

About event organizers:

The Internet Development Association (ISOC Romania Chapter) was created in 2021 with the stated purpose of becoming part of the Internet Society, an international non-governmental organization with over 50,000 individual and legal members, counting over 90 branches around the world, which works to ensure that all people in the world benefit equally from the Internet and openly supports the development and use of the Internet. ISOC Romania Chapter promotes the development of an open, secure, accessible and reliable Internet for all citizens in Romania. The organization aims to support digital innovation, Internet education, protect the rights of online users and reduce the digital divide in disadvantaged communities. It also aims to actively contribute to the formulation of public policies aimed at a free and responsible Internet.

ANISP – The National Association of Internet Service Providers in Romania – is a non-governmental, apolitical, non-profit organization, established in 2001 on the initiative of the most important Internet service providers. ANISP is involved together with the competent state authorities in the elaboration of the necessary policies for the development of the Internet and operates the first Internet eXchange in Romania – RoNIX.

The Interlan Association is a professional, non-governmental and non-profit organization established in 2005 at the initiative of a group of Internet service providers. Currently, the Association has over 50 members, with the aim of supporting and promoting the interests of electronic communications service providers in Romania. The Interlan Association owns and operates the largest national data and internet traffic exchange platform in Romania, InterLAN-IX.

The event was covered by the local press, mass media and on social networks:
https://mediaexpres.ro/articole.aspx?id=21543
https://www.internetmobile.ro/se-poate-inversa-tendinta-pietei-de-telecomunicatii-din-romania/
https://ro.linkedin.com/posts/virgiltruica_telecom-romania-internetsociety-activity-7330163363928264705-tiMy
https://ro.linkedin.com/posts/cornel-barbut-485b9210_telecom-iot-activity-7334165531375091714-zXD_
https://x.com/romania/status/1923350766166618346
https://www.internetsociety.ro/?p=1316
https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2025/07/community-snapshot-june/