Broadband experts agree next steps in Eastern Partnership development
Date: 06/11/23
Concrete next steps in Eastern Partnership broadband development were agreed in a meeting of the Independence of Regulators and Broadband Expert Working Group (IRB EWG) in Yerevan, Armenia on 25-26 October 2023. The main focus was wholesale broadband access market analysis and monitoring of broadband access.
During the first day, Eastern partner country representatives of Georgia and Moldova presented cases of ongoing wholesale broadband access markets analysis by their National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs). One EU Member State, Romania, presented its case study of wholesale call termination markets. In addition, activities implemented by IRB EWG and a proposed plan for 2024 were discussed alongside the broadband infrastructure and services across the European region and beyond.
The second day of the meeting included another analysis of wholesale broadband access markets, this time by EU Member State Latvia. However, the day was mostly dedicated to the three key deliverables that are being developed by EU4Digital Facility in collaboration with IRB EWG members:
Country-specific broadband development monitoring reports for the Eastern partner countries The EU4Digital team presented sample reports that had been prepared for each country based on data collected for 2020-2022. These include additional information such as national broadband development plans and relevant market developments. The discussion points raised will be used as the basis for new reports based on broadband access data to be collected for 2023.
Broadband market analysis An upcoming broadband market analysis exercise for Armenia and Azerbaijan was presented. By November, data collection is expected to conclude and be followed by analysis and the preparation of country-specific reports in the first half of 2024. It was agreed that the EU4Digital team would also review the results of market analysis in the other Eastern partner countries –Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – once they are available.
Monitoring of regulatory governance legislative developments in light of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) Following the discussions on this topic, it was concluded that EU4Digital will share an updated monitoring framework as a basis for country representatives to provide their inputs by the end of 2023.
Overall, the IRB EWG meeting discussions paved the way for continued collaboration and efforts in monitoring broadband access and regulatory governance, as well as experience-sharing regarding broadband market analysis. In this way, the event set a clear agenda for future progress in this field.
Further information
The IRB EWG is part of the Eastern Partnership Electronic Regulators Network (EaPeReg). EU4Digital Facility supports the work of EaPeReg as part of its Telecom Rules thematic area of activities.
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