Magticom sent an open letter to the Parliament of Georgia. The letter is reflecting Magticom’s public statements on the Georgian National Communications Commission’s Annual Report for 2020.
According to the letter, company says that the Communications Commission seems extremely opposed to nearly all the undertakings operating in the sector.
“The companies operating in the sector have been embroiled in endless legal disputes with the Communications Commission. Incompetency, lies, unjustified sanctions (illegal decisions) and selective enforcement have become a standard/style of operation espoused by the Communications Commission. The sector led by the Communications Commission is being destroyed, as the Commission has no understanding of the sector’s importance, cybersecurity, or the principles of economics. Disregarding the increasing risks of cybersecurity may bring the country – whether its defence, healthcare, education, banking and financial sector, commerce, tourism or any other area – to the point of paralysis.
In 2017-2018, two major international investors (Telia Sonera and Metromedia) left the Georgian market. In general, the Commission’s unpredictable decisions hamper investors’ business and scare them away.
It is noteworthy that due to the Commission’s wrong, incompetent and illegal approaches, our company has had to take an extremely careful look at the future in terms of introducing new technologies and making substantial capital investments in contrast with the recent past when Magticom used to deploy 40 km optic-fiber cable daily to support the internetization of Georgian regions and provide accessibility to fixed broadband internet services.
The clueless decisions of the Commission were the reason why the Communications Commission found a negative reflection in the US State Department’s Annual Report for 2020.
You are well aware of the Venice Commission’s negative conclusions on the legislative amendments authored by the Communications Commission.
The Report by Freedom House gave a negative review of the Communications Commission’s conduct. The Commission often tends to misinterpret EU regulations and adjusts laws and regulations to its agenda that poses major problems to the sector. For instance, re-electing the chairman of the Commission to the office several times, adjusting the Competition Law to the Communications Commission for as long as Mr. Bekauri holds office, etc.
A logical question arises: what is the next adverse measure that the current Communications Commission may come up with to further destroy the sector? We’d like to note that the Parliament has not yet reviewed the Georgian National Communications Commission’s Annual Report for 2019. We hope the parliamentary hearings of the Communications Commission’s Annual Reports for 2019 and 2020 are held in the nearest future.
We invite the members of the Parliament to rate the activity of the Georgian National Communications Commission either positive or negative and state whether Mr. Chairman Kakha Bekauri of the Communications Commission is deserving confidence or not”, – says the letter.
