The reduction of roaming tariffs with Romania stimulated an unprecedented growth in mobile data consumption last year, reaching a record high of one million gigabytes (GB). This is shown in a report prepared by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) and the Romanian National Authority for Communications Administration and Regulation (ANCOM).
According to the document, three years after the 2022 Agreement was signed, roaming and international call tariffs between Romania and Moldova have been significantly reduced. They will remain in force until Moldova’s inclusion in the EU’s “roaming-at-home” zone, scheduled for January 1, 2026.
Internet traffic consumption in roaming between the two countries increased significantly in 2024. Of the total volume of 1 million GB, 75% of the increase is due to the intensification of data consumption, 14% to the increase in the number of roaming users, and the rest to the expansion of roaming presence.
Last year, the average cost of a two-way roaming day remained at 2023 levels, despite a significant increase (+42%) in daily internet traffic. Thus, a day of internet roaming meant on average 175 MB of traffic for users from RM roaming in Romania and 63 MB for users from Romania roaming in Moldova.
At the same time, telephone roaming traffic based on telephone numbering increased significantly, especially among Moldovan users roaming in Romania. On an annualized basis, they generated about 30% more outgoing and incoming call minutes, respectively. For Romanian users roaming in RM, voice traffic increased by 6% for outgoing and 8% for incoming calls.
The two governments signed an Agreement on February 11, 2022, to reduce tariffs for international roaming services and international calls between the two countries.
The purpose of the agreement is to reduce tariffs for the provision of international roaming services in the retail market: voice calls, SMS and data transfer, respectively, as well as tariffs for international calls between the two countries.
