The Romanian Fiber Optic Association sent a letter on Monday, March 24, 2025, to the Ministry of Finance and ANAF (National Agency for Fiscal Administration) requesting an amendment to the pole tax, with the subject “Observations of the Romanian Fiber Optic Association regarding the special constructions tax.”

Despite Romania ranking first in Europe for the second consecutive year in Fiber to the Home coverage with 96.1%, and the widespread desire for the migration of aerial fiber optic networks underground in all Romanian cities, AFOR (the Romanian Fiber Optic Association) has highlighted two major risks concerning the special constructions tax:

The risk of incorrect classification of fiber optic networks could significantly hinder their development, contradicting the European Union's Digital Decade 2030 objectives and the practices of all other member states.
The risk of blocking or even dismantling initiatives for migrating networks underground, with unreasonable effects on the safety of telecommunications services and residents.
We proposed both maintaining the tax exemption for constructions that are or will be transferred, in accordance with current legal provisions, to the ownership of the state or administrative-territorial units, as well as clarifying the phrase “building for which building tax is due” to also include constructions for which administrative-territorial units benefit from payments in the form of royalties.

We are pleased to note that on Thursday, March 27, 2025, the government amended the pole tax, with a 50% reduction and other changes, even if not those requested by us. See the news: 

The response received from the Ministry of Finance can be viewed here:

We will continue to bring the problems of the fiber optic market to the attention of the authorities and to work in the interest of our members and the consumers of electronic communications services in Romania.