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 - www.anrceti.md) will develop cost calculation models for interconnection services, each model being accompanied by a document that will describe the methodology used for its development. This is a provision of ANRCETI Administrative Board Decision No. 14/1 of 27.04.2010 on establishing detailed principles used to develop interconnection cost calculation models. The decision came into force on June 17, 2010 - the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova.

This decision was developed under Law on Electronic Communications no. 241-XVI of 15.11.2007, empowering the Agency to issue methodological regulations regarding control over prices for interconnection services, imposed by providers with significant market power on relevant markets. Its goal is to create conditions for ensuring economic efficiency of interconnection services, to promote competition in the market for the benefit of end users.

Last year the Agency developed and submitted for public consultation the draft methodology for the FL-LRAIC-based cost calculation for interconnection and access services. After analyzing the recommendations made by the participants to public consultations and by the experts of EBRD technical assistance project, ANRCETI found it necessary to substantially change the draft document and give it another name.

The new draft decision was placed on the website of the Agency for public consultation in the timeframe March 4 - 22, 2010, and subsequently discussed in a public session of the Administrative Board. The adopted decision is not a normative one, it sets the approaches chosen by the Agency in terms of methods used for costs calculation for interconnection services.

According to the decision, for the development of costing models, the Agency will apply, for short and medium terms, the FL-LRAIC methodology and for long term - the FL-LRIC methodology (pure LRIC). Pure LRIC methodology is described by the European Commission Recommendation of May 7, 2009 concerning the regulation of termination charges in fixed telephone and mobile networks as the most suitable for calculating the costs, incurred by providers for interconnection services.

June 22, 2010