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

The ANRCETI Administrative Board Decision, providing for modifications to the Interconnection Regulations, entered in force on December 29, 2009, following publication in the Official Gazette. In particular, the modification concerns section 12 of the document.

The revised version of Section 12 of the Regulations on Interconnection requires that providers of public electronic communications that have no ex-ante obligations, imposed by the Agency, to ensure traffic transit shall negotiate a direct interconnection agreement only where the average monthly bi-directional indirect interconnection traffic between the given provider and the requesting provider for the last three months exceeds 50 thousand minutes.

According to the old version of this section, the Agency was to establish, though a separate decision, the level of average percentage of indirect interconnection channels workload (on the basis of a E1 channel capacity). Attaining this level obliges the provider to offer direct interconnection if so requested. This provision used to be controversially interpreted by providers, in particular regarding the starting moment of the obligation to provide direct interconnection. The Agency concluded that this norm needs to be modified by setting a new threshold for traffic volume, in order to identify that moment.

At the same time, the analysis conducted by the Agency showed that where the monthly outgoing traffic (indirect interconnection) of a provider reaches 20-30 thousand minutes, the costs he incurs for direct interconnection are lower than the ones incurred for traffic transit. As a result of this finding, the Agency set 50 thousand minutes as threshold for monthly bi-directional traffic.

The Agency specialists consider that establishing this minimal traffic threshold for offering direct interconnection will diminish barriers to interconnection services and will enhance competition on retail markets.

The draft Decision was subject to public consultations, discussed in a number of sittings organized by the regulator and approved with the Working Group supervising the regulation of entrepreneurial activity.

December 30, 2009