Romanian telecom regulator invests EUR 3.4 mln in radiation-measurement laboratory

Telecom regulator ANCOM will invest EUR 3.4 million (RON 17.9 million) of its own funds in a laboratory that will be used to check radio equipment, mobile phones and other devices that generate electro-magnetic fields, after their introduction on the market.

“The regulating authorities in most European Union countries have such laboratories that are dedicated exclusively to testing the equipment and products on sale. Apart from these, there are other commercial laboratories that take conduct paid analysis at the request of any party,” Catalin Marinescu, president of ANCOM, told BR.
To this end, the authority has launched a public auction to award the contract. The deadline for interested parties to submit offers is October 4, at 5 pm. Estimations are that the laboratory will be functional within 20 months of the contract being awarded.

The laboratory will be built in Prejmer, Brasov county, on a 2,834-sqm land plot owned by ANCOM. The premises will have a total built area of 701 sqm. This surface is typical for a medium-sized laboratory according to the standards in force, added the ANCOM president.
Similar laboratories exist in two other Romanian cities. “Until now, ANCOM has collaborated with a laboratory in Craiova to perform the necessary technical measurements, as part of a campaign initiated by the European Commission. We know that there is such a lab at Suceava University for training students, but we do not have other information about it,” said Marinescu.
However, unlike other laboratories in Romania, the ANCOM lab was designed in such a way that it will only measure for market-control activities. It will conduct a large range of tests and will be equipped with last-generation technology.

“This laboratory will enable ANCOM to carry out its duties, and check whether the electric and electronic appliances on sale are compatible with applicable European laws that regulate electro-magnetic compatibility and the health and safety of the users,” Marinescu said.

One of the key reasons for the existence of this laboratory is also to verify radio equipment and establish whether the radio frequency bandwidth is used efficiently. “The entrance of radio equipment and terminals on the European market is no longer subject to approval and homologation before their introduction onto the market, since the guiding principle now is the free circulation of merchandise,” said Marinescu.

Producers have the obligation to subject their products to tests and measurements performed within homologated laboratories and to place at the disposal of the authorities from the European countries where they distribute their wares sufficient evidence that the products fall within the legal parameters.

The regulation authorities intervene only when it is suspected that the products fail to observe these parameters. In Romania, ANCOM is the authority that verifies that such equipment respects the norms in force.