Contact Information

Address:
bd. Ştefan cel Mare, 134 MD-2012, Chisinau Republic of Moldova

Reception:
of. 503
tel.:  +373 22 251 317
fax: +373 22 222 885
e-mail: office@anrceti.md

Information and Anti-Corruption
Hotline: 080080080

 

State Institutions from the Republic of Moldova

29 March, 2024

EBRD and ANRCETI Review and Sum Up Technical Assistance Project „Communications Regulatory Development”

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the National regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) are satisfied with the implementation results of the Technical Assistance Project „Communications Regulatory Development”, delivered in the timeframe October 2009 - October 2011. This message was conveyed by Mr. Paul Moffatt, EBRD Senior Legal Adviser, William Burnfield, Project Manager and Sergiu Sitnic, ANRCETI director, at a briefing (photo) held Thursday, October 4, as the project ended.

The EBRD delivered the project at the request of the Government of the R. Moldova, to provide ANRCETI with technical assistance in the implementation of the Law on Electronic Communications, in force since March 2008, and the alignment of the national regulatory practices with the norms and standards of European Union. The project budget was estimated at 898,3 thousand euro.

Sergiu Sitnic highly appreciated the assistance granted to ANRCETI by the EBRD and the 12 project experts, underlining that it is owing to the training and help from foreign experts that ANRCETI specialists learned the best European practices in terms of electronic communications regulation. He specified that the Agency, with the experts’ support, conducted market analyses, designated the providers with significant market power and imposed special ex-ante obligations on them in order to prevent abuse and stop anti-competitive practices. Sitnic said this exercise would be concluded by the end of this year. He added that after the regulatory acts on number portability are approved, this service will be implemented in mobile networks in 2012 and in fixed networks – in 2013.

Paul Moffatt was also satisfied with the results of project implementation, stressing, however, that the EBRD is ready to provide further assistance to Moldovan part. He mentioned the importance of approving the draft amendments to the Law on Electronic Communications, developed in accordance with the 2009 EU directives with the experts’ support. He mentioned that the implementation of the EU regulatory framework in R. Moldova will provide new opportunities for facilitating investments in the telecom sector of Moldova.

The project manager, William Burnfield, expressed his confidence that the activity of the project will be useful both not only for ANRCETI specialists, but also for the market players, public and private entities carrying business in this sector. Speaking about the main obstacles to the development of telecommunications market of Moldova, Burnfield said that the biggest problems are the high prices for access to infrastructure of JSC Moldtelecom; tariffs unadjusted to the cost of retail services provided by this operator and the difficulties faced by new entrants in terms of access to spectrum.

The expert said that these problems can be solved by re-balancing of tariffs applied by JSC Moldtelecom and the change of the spectrum management system, adding that this requires political will from the Government. Burnfield said that delays in solving data issues will lead to stagnation of the telecommunications market and will stop investments in this sector, which is of primary importance for the country.

Some aspects of project implementation were discussed in the „Regulatory Development Strategy Workshop” (photo), organized by the EBRD in Chisinau on October 4, 2011.

The „Communications Regulatory Development” project is the second technical assistance project delivered to the electronic communications regulator of R. Moldova. The first project was implemented in the timeframe 2000 - 2002 by the USAID.

October 5, 2011

Changed: 6/10/2011