TRANSNISTRIAN MOBILE OPERATOR MAY GET MOLDOVAN REGISTRATION

The Government discussed on Wednesday the possibility for Transnistrian mobile telephony operator “InterDnestrCom” to be registered in Moldova.

Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Chiril Gaburici presented a draft law that will allow registering the Transnistrian company in Chisinau, in order that later to completely rehabilitate the telephone communication between the two sides of the Dniester River.

“Legislative amendments are necessary for implementing the provisions of protocol decision “On measures on organizing the interaction in the field of electric communication”, signed on November 25, 2017. This decision creates conditions for promoting negotiations on registering the regional operator “InterDnestrCom” in Moldova and rehabilitating the telephony between the Dniester sides. In this way, the Government will compensate to Orange and Moldcell the losses from Tiraspol operator registration”, said Gaburici at the Cabinet of Ministers’ sitting.

According to him, the approved amendments to the Law on electronic communications will not lead to legal consequences for national operators and will not violate their internal operational system.

“Besides, this decision is a clear sign that we are moving forward on the path of region’s integration in Moldova’s legal field. This process is monitored by the OSCE”, the minister said.

The telephone communication with the Transnistrian region was suspended in 2003. Its rehabilitation is one of the points of the Berlin Protocol, signed on June 1, 2016. Despite the conducted negotiations, this problem remains unresolved.

The “InterDnestrCom” is the Transnistria’s single operator of fixed and mobile telephony. In 2004, after a corresponding decision of the Government, the National Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Information Technology (ANRCETI) decided to issue an individual license to the Tiraspol’s company for a period of 15 years for providing mobile telephony services in the CDMA standard in Moldova. However, later the Government’s decision was cancelled by the Constitutional Court at the initiative of the then President Vladimir Voronin under the pretext of lack of transparency in conducting contest. The Transnistrian company is still complaining that the license seller has not returned the paid US$1 million so far.