National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology of the Republic of Moldova

In 2010 the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI - www.anrceti.md) will continue to actively promote measures meant to encourage competition on the electronic communications market, to remove the existing barriers to the provision of networks and services, to ensure the consumers’ rights to high-quality services, actions launched in 2010. This is the information provided by the Agency Director, Sergiu Sitnic in today's press conference, held for the purpose of presenting ANRCETI Report on activity and the developments of the electronic communications markets in 2010.

Sergiu Sitnic mentioned that in 2010 the Agency’s number-one priority was to implement the new tools of (ex-ante) regulation, prescribed by the Law on Electronic Communications and applied in the European Union countries. This mechanism consists of market analysis for the identification of relevant markets, designation of providers with significant market power on these markets and setting ex-ante obligations for these providers. The imposition of special obligations is intended to foster competition on these markets through the actions of preventing competitive problems and solving the existing ones.

In this timeframe, the Agency identified six markets (wholesale) out of the ten defined as susceptible to ex-ante regulation, designated 18 providers as having significant market power on four markets and imposed special ex-ante obligations. In the case of markets for voice call termination in individual fixed and mobile telephony networks, the biggest number of obligations were set for JSC Moldtelecom (fixed and mobile), JSC Orange Moldova (mobile and fixed) and JSC Moldcell. These providers are required to offer other operators, upon request, access and interconnection for call termination on their networks, to ensure the provision of services in a transparent (published reference interconnection offers) and non-discriminatory (equal conditions) manner, to apply cost-based prices. JSC Moldtelecom, as a fixed telephony provider, was required to keep separate accounting for its activities.

Later the Agency imposed special obligations to JSC Moldtelecom due to its significant power on two other markets - access to network infrastructure at a fixed location and broadband access. Those obligations seek to remove the existing barriers to the market of access to JSC Moldtelecom infrastructure, particularly in areas where broadband services are underdeveloped. Statistics show that most (73%) of broadband subscribers reside in urban areas and the rest (27%) - in rural areas.

The Director emphasized the fact that the special obligations imposed by the Agency on providers with significant market power create conditions for alternative operators to liven their activity, facilitates market entry, enhance competition, factors that ultimately will be for the benefit of consumers. As a result, they will be able to choose the service provider at their discretion and will benefit from a wider range of high-quality services at affordable prices.

In the list of the Agency’s priorities, Sergiu Sitnic also mentioned the implementation of telephone number portability in the R. Moldova. The Agency has already prepared the draft Program for number portability implementation. The document was subject to consultations with the providers and needs to be further approved by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications. The number portability will give the subscribers the opportunity to keep their telephone numbers when switching from one to another telephone service provider. The program provides for three stages of implementation, in the timeframe 2011 - 2013.

During the first stage (2011), the Agency is planning to implement the proper regulatory framework for number portability and to hold a contest in order to select the entity entitled to implement and manage the centralized database, which will contain all ported numbers and routing numbers and other information necessary for number portability implementation. During the second stage (2012), the centralized data base will be implemented and all the necessary modifications and testing of mobile networks will be performed before the mobile number portability will be launched. Similar operations will take place in fixed telephone networks during the third stage (2013).

Among other activities performed by the Agency in 2010, the Director mentioned the cancelation of the access deficit charge that alternative operators, connected to JSC Moldtelecom’s network, previously had to pay for IP-telephony service provision; the adoption and implementation of regulations for access to cross-border global Internet traffic; adoption of quality parameters for the provision of five types of public services (fixed telephony, Internet access, IP-protocol services, ISDN services and public leased line services); approval of the transfer procedure for licenses authorizing the use of limited resources; special conditions for the activity of mobile virtual network providers (MVNO); modifications and additions of new numbering resources to the National Numbering Plan.

Referring to the actions planned for 2011, Sergiu Sitnic said that by the end of the year, the Agency will conclude the market analysis and impose special obligations on providers with significant market power. During the year the Agency will closely monitor the implementation of these obligations. Simultaneously, the Agency will fulfill the work scheduled for the first phase of number portability implementation and finalize a set of market-regulating documents (costing models for interconnection services, accounting separation guidelines for JSC Moldtelecom, etc.). Sitnic said that this year the Agency will prepare the set of documents necessary for issuing licenses authorizing the use of frequencies from 2.5-2.7 GHz and 3.4-3.8 GHz frequency bands for broadband Internet access services. He emphasized that the launch of 4G services will mark the cornerstone for a qualitatively new stage in the development of broadband Internet access, especially for rural areas of the country.

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April 18, 2011