CommMin Petrescu: I wish Romania will be in the first group of countries launching 5G

Romania could be in the first group of countries launching the 5G technology, but we need to be somewhat careful, in order to avoid all obstacles and see what the other countries did wrong, Minister of Communications and Information Society Alexandru Petrescu stated on Wednesday, on Communications Day.

"These are important files we are discussing, which could have an impact on our industry too. For what we do for 6 months will have an impact on all citizens and on our industry. We are the makers of European public policies. 5G remains an opportunity not just at European but at global level, in technological development. There are countries that are quite advanced in this field, such as South Korea. I wish that Romania will be in the first group of countries launching the 5G technology. But I don't think that we need to make an act of bravery and actually be the first, for it wouldn't be an intelligent move on our part. We must be very careful and watch what happens first, in order to avoid all obstacles and see what other countries did wrong before of us. We have Italy, with 6.55 billion euros, after initial estimates of 2 billion. We have Austria, at the opposite end of the scale, which stopped somewhere at 186 million euros. And I saw last evening that negotiations in Germany reached 2.3 billion euros. In UK we have certain approach philosophies," said Petrescu.

According to the Minister, the Romanian authorities must carry out an intelligent business and identify the good practices in other states to use them in the configuration of tenders this year.

"Our duty is to see what happens first and have an intelligent business, which means that we should identify the good practices and use them in the configuration of tenders that I hope we will see happening in Q4. What I can assure you of is that the relation between the market and the administration remains a transparent one. Absolutely any document, position related to the configuration of the tender will be put up for public consultation," stated Petrescu.

The official representatives of the public institutions in the communications sectors, telecom operators and providers of communication solutions, as well as top IT&C companies participate on Wednesday in the 23rd edition of the Communications Day event, under the title "5G for a competitive Romania."