According to the 2023 Activity Report of the Communications Commission, last year ComCom commissioned the British research organisation Strategy Analytics to carry out a benchmarking study of telecom service costs in Georgia, which compared the current prices in Georgia to those in 23 countries of Europe. The analysis established that the cost of high-speed and high-volume services in Georgia substantially exceeds the European average, which creates restrictions for Georgian consumers. The cost...

The communications Commission has launched the Digital Support Programme in the municipalities of Tsageri and Lentekhi, holding informational meetings with deputy mayors of target municipalities, administrative employees, Town Hall representatives, the local population and stakeholders.  Within the framework of the programme, seminars on digital literacy and safe use of the internet will be held in 25 target settlements of Tsageri and Lentekhi municipalities. With the help of specialists,...

“We found that there is a lack of competition on the Georgian mobile service market. This is due to the presence of a dominant company in the shape of Magticom. Based on the market analysis, we developed obligations that ComCom ought to impose on Magticom in order to remove market entry barriers for new players.” This statement was made by the head of the expert group participating in the comprehensive research of the mobile services market commissioned by the Communications...

“The Georgian mobile service market is stagnating and uncompetitive, with Magticom having significant market power in terms of market share, customer numbers and infrastructure. This creates barriers to market access and stifles competition, creating a restricted environment for consumers. To resolve these issues, it is necessary to impose specific obligations on Magticom, such as the duty to allow all interested operators access to its infrastructure.” This assessment was delivered...

“The comprehensive study showed that Magticom enjoys significant advantages over other companies on the Georgian mobile service market in terms of financial resources, customer numbers and infrastructural capabilities. It is unlikely that these circumstances will change in the near future, that Magticom’s market share will fall below the 40% threshold established by the Georgian legislation for operators with significant market power, or that other operators will reach the said...

The Communications Commission held a public presentation on the results of the comprehensive study of the mobile service market. The presentation was led by ComCom member Ekaterine Imedadze and the head of the expert research group, EU expert Domagoj Jurjevic. The event was also attended by the other EU experts participating in the study – Christian Jean-Pierre Francois Marie Hosefid, Stanko Taskov and Peter Lundy. Within the framework of the meeting, participants provided the audience...

As part of the media literacy contest “Truth or Fiction?”, the Communications Commission trained 9th, 10th and 11th grade pupils of public schools Nº1 and Nº5 in Akhaltsikhe. The meetings were led by ComCom Media Literacy Department representatives Mariam Gugulashvili and Tamar Karbaia, who explained the terms of the contest and the issues relating to the submission process and fake news detection to the youngsters.  During the meeting, the trainer used BBC...

In the first quarter of 2024, TV broadcasters collected GEL 14 million in commercial advertising revenues. The information supplied by broadcasters to the Communications Commission under the Law on Financial Transparency of Broadcasters shows that the following companies spent the most money procuring advertising on Teleimedi, Rustavi 2, Mtavari Arkhi, PosTV, Formula and TV Pirveli:   In Q1 2024, Teleimedi collected between GEL 100,000 and GEL 500,000 in advertising revenues from the...

The total commercial advertising revenues of TV and radio broadcasters in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 0.5% year-on-year to GEL 15.6 million.  TV broadcasters alone collected GEL 14 million in advertising revenues, with direct advertising accounting for 64.9% of the total, and product placement accounting for 18.4%.  Teleimedi had the largest share of commercial TV advertising revenues in Q1 2024. Its revenues increased by GEL 0.7 million year-on-year to GEL 5.3 million. The...

ComCom member Ekaterine Imedadze took part in the 23rd plenary assembly of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network (EaPeReg), and specifically in the session devoted to international relations. Ms Imedadze, who chaired EaPeReg in 2023, talked about the importance of relations between EaPeReg and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the joint projects implemented and planned by the two organisations.  The 23rd plenary assembly and workshops...