Overall, Republic of Macedonia has made progress in aligning the
legislation with the acquis and in strengthening competition on the market. However, in the field of electronic communications, the country is still in breach of its obligations under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. In all sectors, implementation and enforcement of the legislation remains weak. The independence of the regulators is not sufficiently ensured and there is no functioning broadcasting fee collection scheme. In this area, preparations are lagging behind.
In the area of electronic communications and information technologies, Republic of Macedonia made good but uneven progress. Amendments to the law on electronic communications empowered the Agency for Electronic Communications to impose fines. The amendments were also aimed at clarifying appointment and dismissal rules and introducing accountability principles. Several pieces of implementing legislation were adopted.As regards market liberalisation, the reference interconnection offer was revised to lower the interconnection fees by up to 50%. However, the new prices have not yet entered into force, so a level playing field has not yet been achieved. Thus, the four companies which have signed interconnection agreements with the incumbent have not begun to offer services in the domestic fixed voice market. Although a reference unbundling offer from the incumbent to access its local loop was adopted in February, there is currently no unbundled loop available.
Competition has been enhanced in the mobile market with the selection through an international tender of a third mobile operator. The largest alternative operator, which provides wireless internet throughout the country, was bought by Slovenian Telecom. The Agency for Electronic Communications launched an international tender for fixed wireless
access on the territory of the entire country.Several issues remain to be addressed, such as notification procedures, fees, obligations such as, cost accounting and accounting separation, retail tariffs regime, use of radio frequencies, or universal service provisions. The emergency number 112 has not yet been introduced. The independence of the Agency for Electronic Communications is not yet secured in all its aspects. The level of cooperation with the competition authority is insufficient.
Overall, alignment with the acquis in this area is well advanced. However, implementation of the legislation is lagging behind and enforcement remains weak. The country remains in breach of its SAA obligations with respect to implementation of a full set of mandatory competitive safeguards to be imposed on SMP operators, as referred to the Electronic Communications Law.
Some progress can be reported in the field of information society services. The government adopted a strategy on electronic communications aimed at promoting an inclusive information society in thе economy with the use of information and communication technologies. Legislation on electronic commerce and conditional access is in preparation, as well as Law on cybercrime.
There has been some progress in the field of audiovisual policy. The secondary legislation necessary to implement the Broadcasting Law was enacted. In February, the law was amended to change the organisational structure of the public service broadcaster. Despite new legal procedures to ensure the independence of the Broadcasting Council and the public service broadcaster, these bodies remain vulnerable to political interference. Further efforts are needed to ensure independence of regulatory authorities consultations with the relevant stakeholders. Moreover, the capacity to develop broadcasting regulations and ensure compliance with them has to be preserved.
Коментари