Moldova could become a 4G pioneer

Moldova could become one of the first countries to implement 4G services and the Government will support the companies willing to put them in practice, stated Prime Minister Vlad Filat at a meeting with mobile operators, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We should be open in this partnership that we have in order to offer people modern, high-quality and accessibly priced services”, stated Vlad Filat. Attending the meeting, Sergiu Sitnic, the director of the National ICT Agency, said the Agency developed a proposal for the Special Terms for the use of radio frequencies in the band 2500-2690 MHz and presented it for public consultations. “We received all the suggestions and objections formulated by the mobile operators and most of them were accepted”, said Sergiu Sitnic. He added that the Special Terms should be adopted in September, enabling operators to get licenses by the end of the year. Orange Moldova general director Ludmila Climoc noted that the main objection formulated by the mobile operators was the lower limit set by the Agency for the coverage area. “In other countries' experience the use of this band does not entail such limitations. We believe that it should be up to the operator how much it should invest, based on fair competition rules”, said Ludmila Climoc. Moldcell financial director Carolina Bugaian supported the opinion: “4G is an innovative technology which is yet to be taken to its fullest potential, and the users have yet to get hold of 4G devices. Thus, we think it's not the case to set a coverage quota”. Moldtelecom vice director Grigore Varanita said that Unite has already tested the 4G technology which showed good results, and now it's up to Moldtelecom's board to decide whether to acquire a license.