Member of the Communications Commission Ekaterine Imedadze, together with the economic advisor at the U.S. Embassy Emily Bally, opened the Connectivity Solutions event.

In the opening part of the event, Ekaterine Imadedze drew attention to the importance of the meeting and noted that it is particularly interesting and valuable to share the experience of American colleagues about the important projects and initiatives that are implemented in the field of eliminating digital inequality and introducing modern digital telecommunication models. This means providing high-quality, accessible and inclusive digital services for every citizen. The ComCom member also reviewed the important projects and activities in Georgia in the field of broadband infrastructure development, which are implemented with the involvement of the Communications Commission.

“The Communications Commission, together with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, is actively working to fulfill the obligations assumed by the Georgia-EU Association Agreement and to approximate the legislation of Georgia with the legislation of the European Union. In this context, the implementation process of the Universal Service Directive is currently of particular importance. In addition, it is worth noting the law on infrastructure sharing, which was adopted by the Parliament in May 2023. The purpose of the law is to provide telecom operators with non-discriminatory, fair and reasonable access to the physical telecommunications infrastructure, and thereby promote the development of high-speed broadband infrastructure on the territory of Georgia. The Communications Commission has an important role in the process of enforcing this law,” Ekaterine Imedadze stated.

Ms Imedadze also informed her American colleagues about the state internetization project: “I also want to touch on another important project for our country, which the Communications Commission is actively implementing. The Log-in Georgia project, which is co-funded by the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, aims to provide around 500,000 people in 1000 villages and rural settlements in Georgia with access to affordable high-quality internet services, as well as to help develop digital skills and facilitate the use of digital services.” 

During the two-day event, representatives of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the US Department of Commerce will share their experience with Georgian colleagues on such important issues as the current US models and programmes for the development of broadband infrastructure, FCC’s approaches to connectivity, satellite internet, broadband infrastructure data collection and analysis, digital infrastructure mapping, etc. 

The workshops in Tbilisi are organised by the US Department of Commerce's Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) and funded by the US State Department's Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership.