The main mobile operators on the market, enjoying a combined 95% market share, have appealed against the market regulator body ANRC’s decision of gradually cutting the interconnection fees by early 2009.

The two warned that the investment plans will be renounced. In a similar move, the fix line operator Romtelecom (controlled by Greece’s OTE) skipped EUR 500mn investments following ANRC’s decision on the interconnection fees.

Interconnection fees in Vodafone and Orange networks represent the fees paid to the two operators for calls made from other networks and are 8.1 eurocents per minute, as calculated in late 2003. The fee is to be reduced to 5.03 cents per minute by 2009. Local press quoted interconnection fees at 12.79 euro-cents on average in Europe and 19 eurocents in neighbouring Bulgaria.