The Communications Commission held an informational meeting on the sharing of telecom infrastructure and physical infrastructure used for telecommunication purposes, as well as the calculation of infrastructure access fees for operators and stakeholders. During the meeting, experts from the international consulting firm PWC presented the fee calculation principles and model, based on which, in case of a dispute between the infrastructure operator and the access applicant, the Communications Commission will calculate a reasonable access fee. The purpose of the informational meeting was to raise the awareness of operators, to provide them with detailed information about the fee calculation, and to minimise the occurrence of disputes related to the access fees and to effectively implement the access rules stipulated by the law in practice.

The resolution “On Approval of the Methodology for Calculating the Access Fee to the Physical Infrastructure Owned by the Infrastructure Operator in the Event of a Dispute between the Infrastructure Operator and the Authorised Person” presents the price-based, future-oriented, long-term incremental cost model (LRIC+) for the calculation of fees for individual elements of physical infrastructure in accordance with the legal acts and recommendations recognised by the European Union. Furthermore, the methods and geographical assumptions for estimating or calculating service-related operational and capital costs are given in detail. In the event that a dispute arises between the parties, the Commission will calculate a reasonable fee for accessing infrastructure using this methodology. 

In June this year, the Communications Commission approved the rules for the access of authorised persons to the electronic communication and physical infrastructure, the methodology for calculating the access fee in the event of a dispute, and the rules for the administration of the unified information platform. The adoption of normative acts was assigned to the Communications Commission by the Law On the Sharing of Telecommunication Infrastructure and Physical Infrastructure Used for Telecommunication Purposes, which was adopted by the Parliament of Georgia in 2023. The resolutions are aimed at fulfilling the obligations stipulated by law, which in turn will contribute to the development of high-speed broadband network infrastructure in Georgia. 

The methodology and the corresponding model implemented with the financing of the World Bank in order to fulfil the obligations assigned to the Communications Commission under the Georgian legislation and introduce the best practices of the European Union, have been developed by the international consulting firm PWC.