(Bloomberg) --
Romania plans to start selling the frequency spectrum needed for 5G wireless networks in the fourth quarter of this year, in an auction that may yield about 2 billion lei ($474 million) in state revenue.
The bidding will be open to all, including companies using equipment from Huawei Technologies Co., Communications Minister Alexandru Petrescu said in an interview in Bucharest late Tuesday. Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said Wednesday in a separate interview that the 5G auction may contribute to public finances this year or next, depending on how fast the process is completed.
“The necessary investments in the new technology are very high and we have to take that into account and make the auction as attractive as possible,” Petrescu said.
The Trump administration has pushed allies to bar Huawei from 5G, citing risks about state spying—allegations the company has denied. While the controversy has allowed Huawei’s European rivals Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB to pick up deals, the response to Trump’s warnings has been lukewarm in some eastern European countries.
Hungary, which has sought close relations with China and is already launching a 5G auction next month, regards Huawei as a “strategic partner,” according to the government in Budapest.
Romania’s telecom market, dominated by Orange SA, Vodafone Group Plc, Telekom Romania SA and Digi Communications NV, has been roiled by a “greed tax” imposed on several industries last year. The ministry is working on changes to ease the impact of the tax, and those may be approved by the government in about two weeks, Petrescu said.
The disputed emergency decree approved late last year set minimum required pricing for the 5G frequency and a 3% tax on the total sales for telecom companies.
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