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

On Thursday, June 19, the Central Court, Chisinau, issued a judgment by which acknowledged that company "Starnet Solutions" LLC committed an offense under Art. 248 (2) of the Code of Contraventions (unlicensed use of numbering resources for the provision of electronic communications networks and/or services) and imposed a fine of 400 conventional units, which is equivalent to 8 000 MDL to be paid to the state. By this decision the court rejected the appeal filed by the mentioned company against Report No. 23 of 05.05.2014, sent to court by the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI).

The report ascertaining the offence was prepared by ANRCETI representatives, as a result of examining the complaint from a customer of this company and contains evidence showing that in the timeframe 01.01.2014 - 03.20.2014, "Starnet Solutions" LLC provided fixed telephony services to its client, having the legal right to use numbering resources.

By this action, the company violated the provisions of Art. 5 (6) of the Law on Electronic Communications, which prohibits the use of scarce resources (radio frequencies and channels, numbering resources) that were not assigned (allocated) by ANRCETI. By breaking this rule, the company "Starnet Solutions" LLC committed an offense referred to and sanctioned under Art. 248 (2) of the Contravention Code.

After examining the case, the court concluded that the complaint filed by "Starnet Solutions" LLC against Report No. 23 of 05.05.2014, requesting its cancellation and termination of contravention process, is unfounded and liable to be rejected. The court judgment states that, in determining the sentence, the court took into account the nature and degree of harm caused by the offense, the person’s characteristics and the aggravating or attenuating circumstances. The judgment shows that it can be challenged in the Court of Appeal within 15 days.

Company „Starnet Solutions” LLC is registered in the Public Register of Providers of Electronic Communications Networks and Services, held by ANRCETI, under no. 594, dated December 04, 2013, as a result of processing the notification submitted to ANRCETI under no. 1842, dated November 29, 2013, which fact is confirmed by the informative declaration, issued by ANRCETI in this respect and attesting the company’s right to provide fixed telephone services.

Under the legislation, ANRCETI oversees the compliance and enforcement of the provisions of normative acts in electronic communications, finds offenses in this area, as well as in postal communications and information technology, for which prepares due reports and submits them to court for consideration. The fines imposed by the court on offenders fully go to the state budget.

June 20, 2014