The Communications Commission, together with European experts, has begun working on a comprehensive research project to study the Georgian telecommunications market. The EU-funded project is being implemented under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. Experts from Croatia, Belgium, Slovenia, and UK have made a week-long working visit to Georgia, where they will work with the Communications Commission team on carrying out economic, legal and technical analysis of the mobile and fixed retail and wholesale market segments based on the methodological market analysis rules determined by the European Commission. 

The research involves assessing the existing competition in the telecom market, determining the relevant markets and, if necessary, outlining specific obligations for the companies. The aim of the study is to remove barriers to entry into fixed and mobile service markets and increase competition. On the one hand, this will enable access to various telecommunication services, while on the other hand, it will give small companies the opportunity to enhance their activities and create alternative communication offers, while the network operators will better utilise the capabilities of their own network, thereby earning additional revenues. 

In order to study the current situation, challenges and future plans on the telecom market, the experts held working meetings with representatives of Beeline, Skytel, MagtiCom, Silknet, New Networks, Caucasus Online, Open Net, the Small and Medium Telecom Operators Association of Georgia, the MVNO Association, as well as the Consumer Rights Defender. The study is being implemented with EU funding and the support of AA Facility II. Its goal is to fulfil the duties stipulated by the Association Agreement. 

The group of experts includes qualified specialists such as Peter Lundy, who has over 30 years of experience in the telecommunications sector, has led more than 25 projects in 40 countries on competitive digital markets in the field of policy, legal, technological and regulatory reforms for the electronic communications sector. He worked for many years as an economic and technical expert in the European Commission, was the leader of the EBRD team in different countries, and prepared a number of comprehensive studies in EU member states. He also worked as an expert at Cullen International, where he carried out a project to assess the investment environment for the development of broadband infrastructure. 

Another member of the team of experts is Domagoj Jurjevic, who has 17 years of experience in regulating the telecom industry and policymaking. He has held leading positions at the Croatian Communications Regulatory Authority (HAKOM) for over 13 years and has conducted 17 market analyses under the EU's electronic communications regulatory framework. He has participated in the process of developing and implementing the Law on Electronic Communications. He was the Vice-Chairman and member of the governing council of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and is currently working on projects financed by international donors of the European Union and the World Bank. 

As for Stanko Taskov, he has 30 years of experience in the field of communications IT. He is a technical expert and head of the IT department of the Slovenian Communications Regulatory Authority (AKOS), as well as a member of the BEREC expert group and a TAIEX expert. Finally, Christian Jean-Pierre Francois Marie Hosefid has 30 years of experience working in the Directorate-General for Competition at the European Commission. Over the years, he held the positions of Head of the Sector and Chief Expert, was involved in the introduction of new directives, and the preparation of relevant guidelines for the regulatory bodies of member states. He was also Chief Expert at Cullen International and has many years of academic and practical experience in the telecom sector in terms of research, analysis and implementation of European directives. 

According to the obligations assumed under the Association Agreement, the Georgian legislation should be brought in line with the EU legislation, for which it is necessary for the country to conduct market analysis and evaluate the markets that must be studied for the purposes of regulation in order to improve the effectiveness of competition in the telecom market and access to wholesale elements of the network. To this end, it is important to ensure that within the framework of the European Electronic Communications Law there is a recommendation from the European Commission on regulated markets and methodological rules for determining the relevant markets, which should guide the European regulatory authorities for market analysis and determining the relevant regulatory framework. These recommendations are essential for Georgia to achieve the goal of dynamic approximation with the EU regulatory framework. A full-fledged study will ensure the implementation of the aforementioned goal.

Due to the scale of research, the project will be implemented in several stages. At the first stage, the competitive environment of the retail market of fixed and mobile communication services will be analysed, which will be completed in the first half of 2023. The second stage will identify the operators with significant market power on the mobile market. This process will be completed in the second half of 2023.