Dimitry Kumsishvili Officially Opened EuroDIG – European Dialogue on Internet Governance

First Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Dimitry Kumsishvili officially opened the EuroDIG 2018 – European Dialogue on Internet Governance and addressed the forum participants. “We are pleased to host the European Dialogue on Internet Governance – EuroDIG-2018, which brings together governmental officials, international organizations, experts and business representatives to discuss “Innovative Strategies for our Digital Future”. EuroDIG fosters dialogue and collaboration with the Internet community on public policy for the Internet,” – Dimitry Kumsishvili stated.

Dimitry Kumsishvili, in his welcoming speech, covered several very important issues including the prospects of the ICT development in Georgia and the relevant measures. “The Government of Georgia has a strong focus on developing the telecommunication sphere by using innovative techniques and technologies. In recent years, we took important steps to accelerate the development of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) sector,” – First Vice Prime Minister commented. The Minister also highlighted that the legislative reforms of previous years led to an attractive environment for investment and include such measures as abolishing licensing for the acquisition of the numbering resource and for providing the digital terrestrial broadcasting. In both cases, the licensing regime was replaced with a simple authorization system.

At the same time, due to the large-scale reform of transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting, 21 channels are freely accessible at the national level (there were 4 national broadcasters before the reform) and a solid base was laid for a sustainable development of the electronic media, media pluralism and diversity. “Bridging the digital divide is one of the main challenges worldwide and for Georgia as well. The Government of Georgia has undertaken numerous measures for supporting the development of broadband infrastructure. For the time being 99.7% of Georgia’s population has an access to the 4G/ LTE Mobile services, 99.9% - to the 3G/LTE Mobile services and 70% of the Georgian families has an access to the fixed internet services. Due to some legislative changes on technological neutrality, the Georgian Mobile operators were given the opportunity to start providing mobile LTE/4G broadband services,” – Dimitry Kumsishvili stated.