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

The Administrative Board of the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI - www.anrceti.md) approved two decisions, which identified two relevant markets: the market wholesale access to network infrastructure at a fixed location and the market of wholesale broadband access. The decisions were published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova on March 26. The identified markets are the first of the list of 10 markets defined by the Agency to be analyzed in order to identify the markets susceptible to ex-ante regulation.

The Board Decisions are based on the findings of the analysis on identifying the market of wholesale access to network infrastructure at a fixed location and the market of wholesale broadband access. Those analyses were carried out under the Electronic Communications Law and the Regulations on Identification and Analysis of Relevant Electronic Communications Markets and designation of providers of electronic communications network and / or services with significant market power in those markets. The analyses were accomplished in consultation with the foreign experts of the EBRD Technical Assistance Project.

The market of wholesale access to network infrastructure includes the service of access to the local loop / sub-loop, made of a twisted metallic copper pair (including full or shared access to the local loop / sub-loop). The market of wholesale broadband access service comprises the wholesale broadband access based on xDSL (access type "bit stream"), including associated transmission capacity. The mentioned markets are vertically related to the same market of retail access broadband services.

Following the analysis made, it was established that the barriers to market entry for alternative providers, lack of competition and the fact that the provisions of the Law on Competition Protection are not sufficient to address to these deficiencies. The Agency concluded that both markets are susceptible preventive regulation.

The Agency has already started the detailed analysis of the mentioned markets in order to determine whether there are providers with significant market power on these markets and determine remedies (special ex-ante obligations) in order to enhance the development of competition. The Agency believes that it is the end users requesting broadband Internet services that will benefit from the implementation of these obligations on the wholesale access to network infrastructure at a fixed location and broadband access markets.

March 26, 2010