Romania’s National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC)announced the two most important mobile operators in Romania - Vodafone Romania and Orange Romania - that they must cut down their interconnection rates with 11.3% in 4 stages, from September 1, 2006 to January 1, 2009.

The tariff level will reach 5.03 Euro cents per minute, as compared to 8.13 Euro cents per minute, at present, an ANRC press release issued on Monday informs.

Vodafone Romania and Orange Romania consider the interconnection tariffs as “unfair” and “not realistic”. Vodafone expressed their worry in regard with the ANRC decision which will have a negative effect on the long term planned investments, Chief Executive Officer Vodafone Romania Liliana Solomon said.

Orange Romania believes these tariffs have not proved beneficial for the countries with economic ascendant trend, like Romania. None of the East European countries applied such model in order not to affect the telephony markets ‘development, a press release by Orange reads.

The ANRC decision comes in the wake of three bilateral talks started in august 2005. The mobile companies find the meetings insufficient and incomplete, as not taking into consideration an objective analysis of all the factors.