The Communications Commission has approved the “Methodology and Procedures for Determining Market Competitiveness and Authorised Persons with Significant Market Power,” which is in full compliance with the telecom market analysis approaches that are in place in the European Union, and is based on European best practices. The methodology will ensure that telecom market research will be conducted in accordance with the standards in force in the European Union. This will contribute to the development of the telecom market and the formation of competitive conditions which, in turn, will lead to the improvement of telecom services offered to Georgian consumers. 

Specifically, the document establishes transparent procedures and standards for the preliminary regulation of the telecom market, identifying the relevant segments of the service market, studying the competition in the said segments, as well as identifying persons with significant authority and imposing specific obligations on them. According to the methodology, the corresponding market segment potentially subject to regulation is determined by the so-called three-criteria test, which forms the main basis for the regulation of the EU telecom industry and provides market analysis that takes into account all the relevant circumstances and full mechanism of the sector's operation. 

The Communications Commission started working on draft changes to the methodological rules of market analysis as early as 2018, within the framework of the EU public service twinning programme. An updated version of the project was developed in 2019 as part of the project of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This document was revised once again under the Twinning Review Mission. In 2022, European experts presented additional recommendations regarding the project within the framework of the European Commission's Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Tool (TAIEX). Finally, the document was revised in 2023 by the experts of the “Facility for the Implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement – II” (AA Facility II). The Communications Commission then gave the stakeholders the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the project, present their opinions and discuss them during public and informal consultations. 

The terms of the 2014 EU-Georgia Association Agreement require close approximation of the Georgian legislation with its EU counterpart. To this end, it is necessary to analyse the telecom market and evaluate it according to the methodology corresponding to European recommendations and best practices, ensuring increased competition on the retail market and improved access to the wholesale segment.