OREANDA-NEWS. March 01, 2010. The number of suppliers of electronic communications services having direct access to the global internet will increase in Moldova in 2010. It was said by the director of the national Electronic Communications and Information Technologies Regulating Agency Sergey Sitnic noting that development of the healthy competition in the wide-band internet services market will result in reduction of fees for final users.

According to him, only “Moldtelecom” currently has direct access to the global internet through the fiber-optic cable on the western border of Moldova, letting it fix overstated prices for other suppliers purchasing services of access to the global network from it. To change the situation and to create favorable conditions for development of the market of services of wide-band access to the Internet, the Agency developed and approved the procedure of coordination of the authorized public authorities to provide work at installation, exploitation, management, support and/or liquidation of the networks of electronic communications on Moldova’s state border.

Orange Moldova and Starnet companies were the first to address to the Agency in 2009 for permissions for installation of their networks till the border with Romania. They are currently on the stage of completion of these works. This year, the Agency also registered the same address of the Norma company. According to the procedure, upon completion of the installation works, the Agency together with representatives of other authorized structures will effect accepting of networks and give permissions for exploitation, management, support and/or liquidation of the electric communications networks to the companies. Serghey Sitnic expressed his confidence that it is in the interest of companies to complete works at inter-connection of their networks with networks of their partners from Romania as soon as possible.

He emphasized that as a result of obtaining the direct access to the global internet, not only suppliers of electronic communications services but first of all, ordinary citizens – users of services will benefit. In opinion of the Agency’s director, facilitation of the direct access of suppliers to the global internet will have a considerable impact on rates of development of the wide-band internet, leading, in its turn, to improvement of offers of access to the high-speed internet as to the price and quality for final users.

According to data, submitt4ed by suppliers to the Agency, the level of penetration of services of wide-band access to the Internet per 100 residents increased in 2009 only by 2 p.p. compared to 2008 and made up 5.23%.