Goga Gulordava Discusses the Ongoing Holistic Study to Promote Competition in the Telecommunications Market

Chairman of the Communications Commission Goga Gulordava presented ComCom’s 2025 activity report at a joint meeting of the Committees on Economic Policy and Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration of the Parliament of Georgia. During the presentation, he reviewed the 2025 stage of the ongoing holistic study aimed at promoting competition in the telecommunications market, as well as the further directions identified through the study.

According to the report, the second stage of the holistic study continued in 2025 and focussed on analysing the market for physical communications infrastructure. Based on the preliminary findings, an operator with significant market power exists in the wholesale market for access to communications/sewer ducts. The report also notes that the existing regulatory framework governing this market is insufficient to promote competition and that additional regulation is required.

“The study of the physical infrastructure market covered two separate segments — access to communications/ducts, and access to poles. According to the preliminary findings, one operator owns approximately 70% of the potentially usable infrastructure in the market for access to communications/ducts. The market for access to communication poles was considered competitive, as access to electricity and street-lighting poles is already regulated by the Law of Georgia on the Sharing of Telecommunications Infrastructure and Physical Infrastructure Usable for Telecommunications Purposes.

Challenges identified in the wholesale market for access to communications/ducts include high barriers to market entry, insufficient competition, the strengthening of the position of the dominant infrastructure owner, and the limited effectiveness of the existing regulations,” the ComCom Chairman stated.

According to Mr. Gulordava, the experts involved in the study provided ComCom with recommendations for effective market regulation. The recommended approaches include ensuring transparency and preventing discrimination, standardising the access procedures, and providing the Commission with more effective mechanisms for monitoring access processes and regulating access fees.

“As part of the holistic study, the corporate terms offered to business subscribers in the retail fixed internet services market were also examined. The study identified the services most in demand among business customers, the key factors influencing their choice, and the difficulties consumers face when selecting a provider,” Goga Gulordava explained.

According to the report, after the completion of the study, ComCom will assess the ways to address the challenges identified based on the information collected during the research. The Commission will consider the experts’ assessments and recommendations and, where necessary, adopt relevant decisions.

“The regulation envisaged by the study aims to enable smaller market players and new companies to develop their businesses and create alternative communications offerings. At the same time, network operators should be able to make better use of their network capacity and generate additional revenue. Ultimately, this will contribute to greater availability of diverse telecommunications services for consumers and support the digital transformation of various sectors of the economy,” the ComCom Chairman said.

According to Mr. Gulordava, based on the findings of the study of the retail market for high-quality services offered to businesses, an analysis of the corresponding wholesale market — access to high-quality services over fixed networks — is planned for 2026. As part of the second stage of the holistic study, ComCom will consult with the stakeholders regarding the markets under review and, after considering the feedback received from companies, will adopt the relevant decisions.

In addition, during the presentation it was noted that studies of two further wholesale markets have been launched as part of the holistic study: the wholesale market for IP transit, i.e. global and local internet connectivity, and the wholesale market for dedicated backhaul channels connecting settlements. Studying these markets and updating the regulatory framework accordingly is particularly important for small and medium fixed-network operators.

According to Mr. Gulordava, as part of implementing the decisions resulting from the first stage of the study, ComCom plans to calculate the access tariffs for fixed and mobile networks. Work will also continue with parties seeking access to fixed and mobile networks and network operators on the terms of offers, with the aim of ensuring that the conditions are mutually beneficial and that access can be implemented in practice.