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

The Administration of the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI - www.anrceti.md) believes that the support of the technical assistance project „Communications Regulatory Development” that has lasted for one year already, has contributed to the regulator’s efficiency and an enhanced development of the domestic telecommunications market, said the Agency Deputy director, Iurii Ursu, ANRCETI project coordinator.

He also stated that the Administration of the Agency and the decision-makers of the consulting company Great Village International Consultants (GVIC) of Canada, in charge of the project implementation, made an interim assessment of the results achieved in the first year of project activity, which indicates that the objectives set by the parties involved in the project have been achieved.

The project was launched in early October 2009 and aims at assisting the Agency in the implementation of the Law on Electronic Communications and harmonization of national regulatory practices and standards with EU norms. The project is funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Following an international competition, the EBRD appointed as project executor GVIC consulting company which is currently implementing the project jointly with the international companies Incyte Consulting, Development Dynamics (DDL), McLean Foster&Co. and Levintsa&Associets. The project budget is 898,300 euros and it is planned for two years.

Throughout the first year, 18 expert missions worked Chisinau, each mission lasting 3 - 5 days. Nine international experts offered assistance and expertise to the Agency specialists in designing and implementing new regulations to promote competition on communications markets, technologies and modern European services. The experts conducted in Chisinau a comprehensive training program for the ANRCETI staff and specialists of local telecommunications companies, comprising 17 seminars and trainings, the total duration of which was 29 days.

In Mr. Ursu’s opinion, the main outcome of the performance accomplished in the first year of project implementation is the fact the Agency staff, due to trainings and assistance provided by foreign experts, learnt the best European practices for market analysis, designation of SMP, setting ex-ante obligations for SMP providers, for the development of costing models for interconnection and access services – elements of utmost importance for the current stage of communications markets regulation. Iurie Ursu also mentioned that in the year under report, the Agency jointly with foreign experts, started to develop draft regulatory documents pertaining to the regulation of number portability, separate accounting, access to the local loop - which are to be enforced next year.

„Communications Regulatory Development” is the second technical assistance project provided to ANRCETI. The first project, provided by the USAID, was implemented in 2000 - 2002.

October 11, 2010