In brief

  • All providers of electronic communications networks and services will report statistical data to ANCOM under 15 new sets of indicators, replacing the ones in use since 2013.
  • Reporting happens twice a year: by 15 August for the first half and by 15 February for the second, plus a snapshot of the position as at 31 December.
  • The decision enters into force only on 1 January 2027, and the reports for 2026 stay under the old rules. The first reports under the new scheme are due in August 2027.
Act: ANCOM Decision no. 396/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 713 and no. 713 bis of 27 August 2026
In force from: 1 January 2027

Telecom market statistics are being rewritten after thirteen years. Decision no. 396/2026 of the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 713 of 27 August 2026, replaces the set of indicators that providers of electronic communications networks and services have been reporting since 2013. It is the second new obligation of the same day for operators in the sector, after the catalogue of 218 cybersecurity controls, which catches many of them as essential entities.

The decision has seven articles and fifteen annexes. The articles set out who reports, when and how. The annexes, published separately in edition no. 713 bis, across 64 pages, contain the sets of indicators and the categories of information for each of them.

The act was signed on 29 July 2026 and publication came almost a month later. The legal basis is Government Emergency Ordinance no. 22/2009, the one that set up ANCOM, together with Article 120 of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011 on electronic communications.

On 28 August 2026 the duty to notify the regulator reached the creators on video-sharing platforms too: CNA Decision no. 116/2026 requires it from 100,000 followers upwards, where the channel earns money.

What it changes in practice

The first effect is the calendar. The data in Annexes nos. 1 to 14 are submitted twice a year: by 15 August of the reporting year, for the period 1 January to 30 June, and by 15 February of the following year, for 1 July to 31 December. Annex no. 15 works differently: it is reported once a year, by 15 February, but for the position existing at 31 December, so as a snapshot rather than as a flow.

The second effect is a threshold that splits the market in two. The data in table 1.4.1 of Annex no. 1 are mandatory only for providers with a net turnover of at least 10 million lei in the reporting period. For the others, submission is optional. Indicator 9 in table 1.2 is optional as well, along with three tables in Annex no. 14.

The third effect concerns those who had no activity. A provider that held the status of provider but did not actually supply networks or services in the period still reports: the information in table 1.1 and, where applicable, tables 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. In other words, silence is not an option even for a dormant company.

The fourth effect is the rule for partial periods. Anyone who becomes or ceases to be a provider during a period reports for the interval in which they held that status, with the 10 million threshold and the optional exceptions applying accordingly.

The fifth effect concerns the quality of the data. Estimates are allowed only in objective and thoroughly justified situations, with a detailed statement of the principles and the methods used. And every provider has to specify and justify, case by case, which of the reported values are trade secrets.

The sixth effect is the penalty. Failure to comply with the decision is punished under Chapter XII of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011, the chapter on supervision, control and penalties.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until now, reporting followed Decision no. 333/2013 of the President of ANCOM, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 319 of 3 June 2013. That decision is repealed on 1 January 2027, on the day the new one enters into force.

The change is not only in the content of the indicators, but also in the rhythm. The old scheme had a separate annual report for revenue and investment, due on 31 May, and a half-yearly one for the rest of the data. The new scheme brings everything onto two deadlines, 15 August and 15 February, and the separate annual report disappears.

The third thing that changes is the preparation time. Four months separate publication from application, and almost a year separates publication from the first actual report: 15 August 2027, for the first half of 2027. For Annex no. 15, the first report comes only in February 2028.

For 2026 nothing changes. The obligations remain under the 2013 decision, with its own deadlines: 31 May 2027 for the annual revenue and investment data and 10 February 2027 for the rest of the half-yearly data and for Annex no. 15 of that act.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • The long lead time before entry into force, four months to application and almost a year to the first report, gives real time to adapt record-keeping systems.
  • The transitional arrangements are written out explicitly: nobody has to guess which rules govern the reporting of the 2026 data.
  • The threshold of 10 million lei spares small providers the heaviest part of the reporting.
  • The calendar becomes simpler: two deadlines instead of three parallel regimes.
  • Estimates are accepted, but only with reasons given, which protects the quality of the statistical series.
  • A provider can flag the data that are trade secrets, with a justification, so publishing the aggregates does not expose its competitive position.

What remains a problem

  • The annexes, the part that actually says what has to be reported, sit in a separate edition that has to be bought.
  • Fifteen sets of indicators across 64 pages mean a compliance effort that the act nowhere puts a figure on.
  • The 10 million threshold is calculated over the reporting period, so a provider may clear it in one half-year and not in the next, with obligations that shift from one report to the next.
  • The act sets no deadline by which ANCOM has to publish the aggregate results, even though the data are collected precisely so that they can be used publicly.
  • What „objective and thoroughly justified situations” means for estimates is left to the authority to judge.
  • Dormant providers report anyway, which is statistically sound but remains an administrative burden for companies with no activity.

Practical advice

  1. If you are a provider, buy or consult edition no. 713 bis in good time: the annexes are the part that tells you what you have to measure, and some data are gathered as you go, not retrospectively.
  2. Work out now whether you clear 10 million lei of net turnover per half-year. That threshold decides whether table 1.4.1 is mandatory or optional for you.
  3. Do not confuse the deadlines: for the 2026 data the old rules still apply, with 10 February 2027 and 31 May 2027. For 2027 the new rules already apply, with 15 August 2027.
  4. If the company holds the status of provider but has supplied nothing, you still file table 1.1 and, where applicable, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4.
  5. Prepare from the outset the justification for the data you consider trade secrets. The decision asks for reasons case by case, not for a general declaration.
  6. If you use estimates, document the principles and the methods at the same time as the report, not afterwards: the act requires them to be stated in detail.
  7. Check whether you became or ceased to be a provider during the period. In that case you report only for the interval in which you held that status.

Frequently asked questions

When does it apply from?
From 1 January 2027. The decision is published now, but Article 7 postpones entry into force, and the first reports under the new rules are due by 15 August 2027.
Who does it concern?
Providers of public electronic communications networks and providers of publicly available electronic communications services, including those who held that status for only part of the reporting period.
When is the reporting due?
By 15 August of the reporting year, for the period 1 January to 30 June, and by 15 February of the following year, for 1 July to 31 December. Annex no. 15 is reported by 15 February, for the position as at 31 December.
What happens to the data for 2026?
They stay under Decision no. 333/2013, with the deadlines of the transitional arrangements: 10 February 2027 for the half-yearly data and for Annex no. 15 of that act, and 31 May 2027 for the annual revenue and investment data.
What does the threshold of 10 million lei mean?
The data in table 1.4.1 of Annex no. 1 are mandatory only for providers with a net turnover of at least 10 million lei in the period concerned. For the others, submitting them is optional.
Do I have to report if I had no activity?
Yes. If you held the status of provider but did not supply networks or services, you submit the information in table 1.1 and, where applicable, tables 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4.
Can I report estimated values?
Only in objective and thoroughly justified situations, with a detailed statement of the principles and the methods on which the estimate was based.
How do I protect commercially sensitive data?
You have to specify and justify, in each individual case, which of the reported values are trade secrets for you, in accordance with the applicable legal provisions.
What happens if I do not report?
The penalties in Chapter XII of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 111/2011 apply, the chapter on supervision, control and penalties.

Editorial analysis

This is the act that the other regulations of the day should have copied on the matter of timing. ANCOM publishes in August an obligation that applies from January and whose first execution comes in August of the following year. Providers have a full year to change their record-keeping systems, and the authority does not risk receiving, at the first report, data put together in a hurry. Set against the cybersecurity order published on the same day, which becomes enforceable immediately, the contrast is instructive: the same administration can also work with reasonable deadlines.

The transitional arrangements are just as well made. The act does not stop at repealing the 2013 decision, it says exactly which obligations remain under it, for which period and with which deadlines. A provider who reads Article 7 knows which rules apply in which year, without having to ask anyone. And the threshold of 10 million lei shows a genuine concern for proportionality: the costliest part of the reporting falls only on those with the means to carry it.

What is missing is the other end of the circuit. The data are collected, by definition, so that the authority can exercise its powers and so that the market can be described publicly. The decision regulates in minute detail what goes in, but says nothing about what comes out: neither how often ANCOM publishes the aggregate results, nor in what format, nor how soon after the reporting deadline. In an act that asks fifteen sets of indicators of the entire market, the absence of a symmetrical obligation to publish is an omission that shows.

What should be changed

  • A deadline for publishing the aggregate results. If providers have 15 August and 15 February, the authority should have a date of its own by which the market report becomes public.
  • Free publication of the annexes on the ANCOM website. Those 64 pages of indicators are the working instructions of an entire market, and they sit in an edition that has to be bought.
  • A stability rule for the threshold of 10 million. Calculated per half-year, the threshold can change the obligations from one report to the next; taking the turnover of the previous year would be predictable.
  • Criteria for estimates. The phrase „objective and thoroughly justified situations” would gain from a few examples, so that a provider knows in advance what is accepted.
  • A procedure for the data flagged as trade secrets. The act requires the justification, but does not say who decides whether the justification holds and what happens if the authority disagrees.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 713 and no. 713 bis of 27 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 117 KB the act starts on page 15

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The other editions cited: nr. 713 bis/2026

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.