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

The National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) announces that the special ex-ante obligations imposed in 2011 on JSC "Moldtelecom" in connection with significant market power on the market for wholesale provision of leased line terminal segments (Market 6) and leased line trunk segments (Market 8), regardless of the technology used for the provision of leased or dedicated capacity will be maintained.

During 2013, ANRCETI conducted second round of market analysis of Markets 6 and 8, under Art. 53 (1) of the Law on Electronic Communications, in order to find whether those markets are effectively competitive and review the ex-ante remedies with regards to maintaining, amending or withdrawing the obligations previously imposed on JSC "Moldtelecom" as an SMO provider on those markets.

Having conducted the repeated analysis of markets 6 and 8, ANRCETI found that significant market entry barriers are still persisting, there is no visible tendency of competition and the measures provided for in the Competition Law are not sufficient to remedy these deficiencies. Based on this analysis, the ANRCETI Administrative Board, by Decisions no. 61 and no. 62 (docs in state language) of 28.11.2013, identified markets 6 and 8 as susceptible to ante regulation and designated "Moldtelecom" as a provider with significant market power.

Pursuant to Art. 50, in conjunction with Art. 53 ( 1), (3) of the Electronic Communications Law and based on the conclusions of the repeated analysis of markets 6 and 8, ANRCETI decided to maintain, with no modification, the special ex-ante obligations previously imposed on JSC "Moldtelecom " ANRCETI Administrative Board Decisions no. 35 and no.36 (docs in state language) of 20.12.2011.

These obligations had been imposed on JSC "Moldtelecom" in the first cycle of analysis of markets 6 and 8. ANRCETI believes that these obligations are proportionate to the competitive risks existing on markets 6 and 8 due to the significant market power of JSC "Moldtelecom" on these markets and maintaining the obligations will help prevent cases of SMP abuse.

December 10, 2013