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

Practices of universal service implementation and the obligations of operators designated for the provision of this service is the subject matter of a three-day workshop that has started today in Chisinau. It is organized by the Network of Electronic Communications Regulators of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine) and PricewaterhouseCoopers Slovensko company, with the support of the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI).

It is the fourth workshop this year for the experts of the regulators concerned. Such workshops are a component of the technical assistance project for EaP Regulators Network funded by the European Commission (EC) and are intended to support the process of bringing the principles and regulatory practices in accordance with the European standards. The workshops are delivered by PricewaterhouseCoopers Slovensko experts designated by the EC as executor of the abovementioned project.

ANRCETI Deputy Director, Iurie Ursu, welcomed the participants and said that the problem of universal service implementation is an important element of the acquis, an issue of relevance for all EaP regulators. "We are interested in the experience of the EU member states in this area and believe that participation of experts from the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia will allow us not only to learn the experience, but also to take on the best practices in these countries”, emphasized Iurie Ursu.

On the first day of the workshop, the participants of EaP regulators, including ANRCETI, made presentations on the current situation as regards the implementation of universal service in their countries, after which the experts presented the EU regulatory framework for universal service. On the second day the participants will study the issues related to the selection of operators to provide universal service, obligations for these providers, universal service net cost calculation, funding and/or cost recovery. On the last day of the workshop, the participants will review and discuss in a roundtable session the experience of universal service implementation in Austria, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia.

Universal service is a minimum set of electronic communications services at a certain quality level, available to all end users at affordable rates, regardless of their geographic location. According to the Law on Electronic Communications, this set of services include: access to the fixed public telephone network at a fixed location, directory inquiry services and access to public payphones, including free access to emergency services. Deadlines for the implementation of these services will be established in the National Program for the long-term universal service implementation, to be approved by the Government.

The EaP Regulators Network was established in September 2012 in Chisinau, at the meeting of Electronic Communications Regulators from EaP countries. The mission of the Network is to ensure regular exchange of information and experience between the EaP and EU regulators, harmonization of national legal and regulatory frameworks with EU standards and best practices applied by European regulators.

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November 20, 2013