The National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC) has confirmed public fears when it decided this week to postpone by an year a decision to apply the second phase of cost cuts for interconnecting tariffs with the Orange and Vodafone networks in Romania.

Mobile owners will thus have another year to pay more for calls in other networks, despite complaints in this regard by many competitors.

Competing networks have been threatening to take ANRC to court for damages of many million euro in case of such a decision as Romanians are paying among the highest tariffs in Europe for mobile telephony services.

ANRC had decided to cut the tariffs yearly until 2009 in July 2006, but was taken to court by Orange and Vodafone, which thus forced the Authority to reconsider its move.

But now Romtelecom alone has threaten with damage claims amounting to 12 million euro to suspend the postponement decision. Romtelecom is the main wired telephony operator in Romania. The position of two other mobile companies, Cosmote and ZAPP, was expected on Tuesday.

Cosmote si ZAPP au aununtat ca isi vor preciza in cursul zilei de marti punctul de vedere referitor la decizia ANRC.