Today, the Office of the President of Ukraine presented a draft Code of Electronic Communications of Ukraine designed to bring Ukraine closer to European standards of digital communication and simplify the work of business by removing outdated rules that prevent it from developing.
The draft Code also introduces innovations in consumer rights protection, including consumers with disability, and creates a competitive environment for market operators.
In particular, it envisages the introduction of technological neutrality that will provide operators with more rights. “We offer to enable operators to choose independently which technology (2G, 3G or 4G) to use on their authorized frequencies. Moreover, operators will be able to use radio frequency rights as an asset. They had not had this opportunity before. Actually, this is a common practice in developed countries: operators can rent, sell or use these frequencies,” Nadiya Kostryba, IT&Telecom Sector expert at the Better Regulation Delivery Office, said.
She added that the terms of granting such rights to operators will also be increased, and this, in turn, will allow companies to manage their long-term investments with less risks.
“It is difficult to create a “state in a smartphone” and a competitive economy without quality and developed communication across the country. We need to integrate our country into the European Digital Single Market. Our top priority task is to deliver ultra-high bandwidth networks in Ukraine,” Oleksiy Honcharuk, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office for Economic Affairs, said.
In the coming weeks, the draft Code of Electronic Communications developed by BRDO experts will be reviewed by market participants and other stakeholders.