afor.ro |

IROMANIAN FIBER OPTIC CONFERENCE 2025

Hotel CARO, 164A Barbu Văcărescu Street, Bucharest

PROGRAM

9:00 – Expo / Welcome Coffee / Networking

Fiber Optic Talks

10:00 - Sorin BOGDAN, President of AFOR – opening speech

10:20 - Vincent GARNIER, Director General of the FTTH Council Europe

Panel 1 – Operators and Authorities

10:30 - Adrian RĂCĂȘAN, CEO, NETCITY - "The Sustainability of Optical Fiber Cables – Can They Be Recycled?"

10:50 - Iulian GIMIGA, Passive Access Network Manager, Orange Romania - "Trends in Future FTTH Deployments"

11:00 - Florin DRAGOMIR, Head of Technical Regulations Department, ANCOM - "Optical Fiber in Communication Networks in Romania"

11:10 - Ionuț CORBU, Senior Fiber Optic Designer, Prime Telecom - "The role of fiber optic infrastructure in the digital development of society."

Guests: Digi Romania, Vodafone.

Panel 2 – Future Infrastructures for Fiber Optics in Romania

11:20 - Diana BUZOIANU - Deputy - The Parliament of Romania - legislative project intended to declare the underground physical infrastructure for electronic communications networks as being of PUBLIC UTILITY

11:30 - Valentin LUCA , CEO, Camusat

11:40 - Ovidiu GURĂU, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Teraplast

11:50 - Raul MARINA, Business Unit Manager - Connectivity, Datacor - “Fiber optics in the age of AI”

Panel 3 – Data Center

12:00 - Cezar LOVIN, Country Manager, R&M - "DataCenters: The Backbone of the Digital World"

12:10 - Dinu DRAGOMIR, General Manager, Teledatanet - "Ultra-fast testing and certification of connectors in Datacenters"

12:20 - Cristian GHEORGHE, CEE Region, Prysmian / APPCR

Panel 4 – Quantum Technologies

12:30 - Corneliu MĂNESCU, Director of the Electronic Communications Directorate, Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship, and Tourism - "The National Quantum Technologies Strategy for 2025–2030 and its Connections to Optical Fiber"

12:40 - Dr. habil. Radu Ionicioiu - Strategic Advisory Board, EU Quantum Flagship, Founder - RoQnet Romanian Quantum Network - "What is the Quantum Apocalypse and how to prevent it"

12:50 - Mugurel TOLEA, National Institute for Research and Development in Materials Physics Măgurele (INCDFM)

13:30 – 14:30 - Lunch

14:30 – 16:00 : Practical demonstrations by AFOR, EXPO and networking members

Topics to be discussed at RFOC 2025

- FTTH/B Coverage: Romania is a leader in Europe for FTTH/B coverage. What is the outlook for fiber optic cable usage in Romania from 2025-2030 after a stationary 2024?
- Aerial vs. Underground Networks: A large percentage of fiber optic networks are aerial. Is there a chance that at least major cities will have underground fiber optic networks by 2030?
- Open Access: What is the status of open access network implementations and new business models, including public-private partnerships and the transition from microtube rental to dark fiber?
- Digitalization: What is the evolution and state of digitalization of fiber optic networks in Romania? There are difficulties in operator reporting to ANCOM. What is the future of digitalization?
- Disaggregation and Interoperability: What are the prospects for disaggregation of fiber optic networks and interoperability of equipment (ONT/OLT)?
- In-Building Cabling: How will the number of in-building infrastructure operators evolve? When might integrated design of new buildings, including fiber optic infrastructure, be possible in Romania?
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Where is AI used in fiber optic networks in Romania, and what are the trends for AI usage in the next 5 years?
- FTTR (Fiber-to-the-Room): What are the trends for FTTR in Romania?
- Copper Networks: How much copper remains in Romanian telecom networks?
- Multimode vs. Single-Mode Fiber: Is there a chance for multimode fiber optics to increase compared to single-mode fiber optics in Romania?
- Qualified Personnel: Will there be qualified personnel to operate and maintain fiber optic networks after current employees retire?
- Infrastructure: The future of fiber optics for infrastructure (highways, bridges, tunnels, geotechnical and structural monitoring).
- Monitoring Quality: The need for new monitoring parameters for fiber optic networks (TTI, FTIR, CNR, AHT, Network Health, etc.).
- Labor Market: The labor market is changing, with specialists leaving the country. There is a need to re-think professional qualifications for the fiber optic market in the next 5-10 years.
- Education: Opportunities dictated by Law no. 198/2023 regarding the organization of the pre-university education system and how to reduce the gap between industry and academia in preparing future fiber optic specialists.
- Photonics: Expanding the approach to fiber optic technologies as the science of light.
- Connectivity Trends: Future trends in connectivity for people, communities, buildings, machines, and objects.