The Communications Commission has published the 2022 annual report, which summarises last year’s activities and future plans. The annual report provides an overview of the current media environment in the country, the mobile and fixed service markets, broadcasting and electronic communication trends, as well as media literacy projects implemented by the Commission, and the activities of the Media Academy. The report highlights the cooperation with local and international partners, and other important issues. 

The report presents the Commission’s observations, according to which the media environment in Georgia is pluralistic yet extremely polarized and biased. Hate speech, disinformation and manipulation are still the main challenge facing the media.

In 2022, ComCom launched a comprehensive study of the telecom sector together with European experts to remove barriers to entry into the mobile and fixed markets. The findings of the study will be used to establish the regulatory framework for increasing customer access to communication services and improving competition on the market. 

The report also assesses the environment for granting access to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). Based on this assessment, the Commission considered it appropriate to monitor the process and extend the implementation of the regulation on mandatory access to the wholesale segment of the mobile network by 6 months to ensure that negotiations between the MVNOs seeking access and the network owners could be conducted effectively. 

The report provides a detailed overview of projects implemented by the Commission in the field of electronic communications, including the simplification of number porting and the approval of the updated national plan for radio frequency distribution. 

The report also talks about the State Internetization Programme “Log-In-Georgia,” which is supported by the Digital Support Programme of the Communications Commission. In 2022, around 350 beneficiaries received training in digital literacy and safe use of the internet under the Digital Support Programme.  

The report includes an overview of the Commission’s activities aimed at removing illegal audio-visual products from the Georgian online space. As part of these efforts, the Commission monitored over 50 Georgian and over 200 international sites that hosted illegal content. 

The annual report provides a detailed overview of the media literacy projects that aim to develop media literacy and critical thinking skills among teenagers, parents and teachers, as well as teach them to identify fake news use the internet safely. The report also presents the Media academy activities with a summary of the projects implemented by the Media Lab, Media School and Mediacritic.