The Communications Commission has issued Caucasus Online with another 270,000 GEL fine for selling shares without the prior approval of the Commission. The company has been ignoring its obligations under law and COMCOM’s decisions for the past 9 months. Caucasus Online has to revert its shareholding to the pre-sale status quo until 1 August, as well as present information about all beneficiary shareholders (including the previous beneficiary shareholders) within two weeks. The Commission ...

Starting from today, Magticom, Silknet and Veon Georgia will be unable to increase the rates on mobile communications services without COMCOM’s approval. The Commission took this unprecedented and important decision to protect consumer interests and prevent the limiting of competition on the mobile communications market. The new regulation covers mobile voice and internet services, as well as short SMS messages.   COMCOM’s new regulation will guarantee that the existing ...

An unprecedented 185 submissions have been received for the Communications Commission’s third media literacy competition “Truth or Fiction?” The first edition of the competition had 17 participants, while 57 pupils took part in the second edition. The number of participants has now grown eleven-fold. The goal of the competition is to develop critical thinking, analysis and fact-checking skills among youngsters, helping them distinguish real facts from fake news. Applications ...

With regards to the consultation document published by the Georgian National Communications Commission on radio broadcast licensing competition regulations, there have recently been false reports about the Commission’s strategy creating additional financial liabilities and difficulties for radio broadcasters. Such claims do not correspond to the truth and serve to mislead the public.  We must emphasise that any changes determined by the strategy do not apply to licenses that have ...

The media literacy competition “Truth or Fiction?” has been prolonged by a week. Pupils wishing to submit their works can do so until and including 21 June. The Communications Commission decided to extend the deadline due to the high participation and interest levels. More than 160 submissions have been made by 14 June, which is a record number. Pupils continued to express their interest in taking part in the competition after the initial deadline, which prompted the Commission to ...

The Communications Commission has published its activity report for 2019, which includes the projects implemented by COMCOM last year, as well as the challenges and plans for 2020. 2019 was a special year for media and broadcasting, as well as the telecommunications sector. There are currently more than 100 broadcasters, while the number of subscribers on the fixed internet market is dynamically growing. According to the 2019 figures, fixed internet penetration reached 80.8%, compared to only ...

The Georgian National Communications Commission has issued a written warning to Mtavari Arkhi for broadcasting a programme in foreign language. The case concerns an interview in Russian language which was included in the show “Main Accents” without the mandatory subtitles. According to GNCC’s resolution and the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, authorised broadcasters may show programmes in foreign language if their length does not exceed 10% of the total daily broadcasting ...

How do we combat the spread of fake news? To develop media literacy, the Georgian National Communications Commission is conducting online lessons for 200 pupils in 10 state schools as part of the “Truth or Fiction?” competition. Members of the Commission’s Media Literacy department are helping youngsters develop the necessary skills in identifying fake information and distinguishing it from real facts. The training programme is using educational materials from BBC ...

The Georgian National Communications Commission will rule on placing administrative penalty on Caucasus Online on 25 June. The case concerns the unlawful sale of company shares without GNCC’s approval. Caucasus Online is still refusing to comply with its duties under law.  The Commission first ruled the sale of company shares without GNCC’s prior approval as unlawful on 17 October 2019 and instructed Caucasus Online to reverse the transaction. As the company failed to comply ...

On 17 May, Formula TV (more specifically, the programme Droeba) deceived its viewers by broadcasting false information about the availability of internet. According to the programme host and the journalist reporting on the issue, 30% of the Georgian population has no internet access. The report also claimed that there is no internet infrastructure in the villages of Iliatsminda, Gudaleti and Bodbiskhevi. Both of these claims are false, since 82% of Georgians have access to internet, and there ...