Contact
Tbilisi 0144,
50/18 Ketevan Tsamebuli Ave/ Bochorma Str., 0144, Tbilisi
Tel/Fax: +995 32 2921667
E-mail: post@comcom.ge
Phone number
+995 32 2921667
ComCom and EU Experts Hold a Meeting with Operators at the Second Stage of the Holistic Study
During the second stage of the holistic study, the Communications Commission and EU experts held working meetings with operators. This stage of the research serves serves to study the telecommunications infrastructure access market and analyse the retail market for corporate fixed internet services. The meetings, which were attended by representatives of Magticom, Silknet, Akhali Kselebi, Skytel, as well as the Association of Small and Medium Operators and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO), aimed to collect detailed information to study the current situation and challenges on the market. The meeting was also devoted to the issue of monitoring the obligations imposed by the Communications Commission on Magticom during the first stage of the holistic study.
The telecom infrastructure access market was deemed subject to potential regulation during the first stage of the holistic study. Therefore, the meetings included in-depth interviews with operators to analyse the situation on the said market. Based on the information received, the Communications Commission, together with EU experts, will assess whether there is an undertaking with significant market power on the market and, if such an undertaking is identified, will determine the regulatory framework in accordance with European practices.
The second stage of the holistic study also includes meetings with business subscribers, who have a particularly high demand for quality internet offers, in order to evaluate the corporate services they receive and determine which packages are most in demand, what factors determine their choice of services, and the difficulties they face when selecting a provider.
During the meeting with Magticom, representatives of the Communications Commission and a group of research experts shared a preliminary version of the margin squeeze test methodology developed for the purpose of monitoring tariff obligations and discussed the main approaches, the stages of publication of the methodology, and its importance for improving market transparency and competitiveness. The purpose of the test is to assess whether Magticom, as an operator with significant market power, provides fair conditions for operators seeking access to the mobile and fixed network. In addition, the meeting with the operator discussed the invitation offers published by the company. ComCom, with the assistance of the experts, provided Magticom with substantive comments related to the offers, in order to ensure that the procedural, commercial and technical conditions offered by the operator with significant market power were transparent and non-discriminatory for access seekers.
The first stage of the holistic study, which was completed in 2024, determined that both the fixed and mobile communications markets were uncompetitive and stagnating. Magticom was identified as an operator with significant power in both markets, which led to ComCom imposing the obligation on the operator to allow other companies access to its network.
In 2022, the Communications Commission, together with the experts of the European Union, with the funding of the European Union and within the framework of the assistance for the implementation of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Georgia (“AA Facility II”), started working on the comprehensive research project on the Georgian telecom market. The project serves to enhance competition on the Georgian telecommunications market, bring the regulatory framework of Georgia closer to the European framework in accordance with the obligations under the Association Agreement, as well as provide diverse, high-quality and affordable services for consumers. The study is in line with the telecom market analysis approaches in the European Union and is based on European best practices.
