The Communications Commission has fined Caucasus Online Ltd. and Railway Telecom Ltd. GEL 30,000 each for selling shares without prior approval from the Commission. On 17 October, the Commission issued the companies with a warning and gave them a deadline until 3 December to revert their shareholdings to the pre-sale status quo and present a confirmation document to the Commission. However, the companies have failed to comply with this ruling. According to the Law of Georgia on Electronic...

The Parliament of Georgia has re-elected Kakha Bekauri as member of the Communications Commission by a majority vote. Mr. Bekauri will serve a second membership term of six years. Kakha Bekauri’s first term as member of the Communications Commission is due to expire on 24 January 2020. Mr. Bekauri has been a member of the Commission since 2014, and has been chairing it since 2017. The parliamentary decree regarding Kakha Bekauri’s appointment as member of the Commission will come...

How should we conduct the coverage of international conflicts, and what do we need to know about diplomacy and the Georgia-Russia talks? These were the topics of the public lecture held at the Media Academy by the Special Representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia for Relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze. Speaking before an audience of media representatives, Mr. Abashidze addressed important issues such as the Georgian foreign policy, the role of diplomacy in conflict resolution, the...

The Communications Commission and the Media Academy will hold the second edition of the “Truth or Fiction?” competition that is designed to develop critical thinking, analysis and fact-checking skills among youngsters. Applications are open to all 9th, 10th and 11th grade pupils between 27 November and 14 December. At the same time, the Media Literacy Department of the Communications Commission will conduct training in up to ten schools to teach pupils how to verify facts and...

The Communications Commission has published the document “On Recommendations regarding the Terms of Access to National Roaming and Mobile Virtual Network Operators.” The document was prepared as part of the consultation process on devising draft recommendations regarding the terms of access to national roaming and MVNOs. The project is being implemented in accordance with the terms of the state procurement contract signed by the Communications Commission and PricewaterhouseCoopers...

The online app and board game “Happy Onlife”, which has been recognised as one of the most successful media literacy development projects in 8 countries of the European Union, is now available in Georgian language. The Communications Commission has created an adapted version of the app and translated it into Georgian language. Children, parents and teachers can now use the app to learn about safe use of digital media. The app is designed to enable children and youths to learn to...

During the third quarter of 2019, the total advertising revenues of television broadcasters amounted to GEL 12,783,323. Advertising revenues include commercials, sponsorship, product placement, announcements and teleshopping. Television advertising revenues during the third quarter of 2019 for each broadcaster were as follows: Teleimedi – GEL 5,125,096.93 Rustavi 2 – GEL 3,681,875.00 Georgian Public Broadcaster – GEL 324,175.86 Pirveli – GEL 831,778.00 Silknet –...

The Media Academy of the Communications Commission held a three-day seminar in photojournalism for media representatives. Participants learned about the core aspects of photography and photo reporting, such as taking pictures while reporting news, preparing a photo report and distinguishing real photos from fakes. Photo reporter Davit Mdzinarashvili provided the participants with full information on the aforementioned topics. In today’s world, where social media is replacing traditional...

According to Freedom House, Georgia ranks in the top ten on the Internet Freedom Index, sharing the 10th spot with Italy with 75 points. Freedom House contends that internet freedom was fully maintained in Georgia during the reporting period. In terms of internet freedom, Georgia ranks above countries such as Japan (73 points) and Hungary (72 points). Countries that are near Georgia on the Internet Freedom Index include France, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Australia, Canada, Estonia...

Member of the Communications Commission Advisory Council, Professor Sergo Shavgulidze, has been elected to serve a second four-year term as Vice-Chairman of Study Group 5 of the International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R SG5). The elections took place at the ITU World Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-2019) at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, where Mr. Shavgulidze was heading the Georgian delegation. The ITU-R study groups are formed at the World...