The discussion will be focused on the following questions:

• Time schedule for digital TV roll out network in Ukraine.
• List of basic and additional services to be offered to customers.
• Existing and potential problems with network deployment and service providing.

In particular, the National Commission for Communications Regulation of Ukraine was represented by Ms. Liudmila Ezhova, Member of the Commission; Mr. Mykola Sokyrko, Head of Department of Licensing and Radio Frequencies; Ms. Tetiana Ivlyeyeva, Head
of Economic Department; and Ms. Liubov Tkachenko, Deputy Head of Economic Department – Head of Division of Mutual Payments.

The agenda of the Meeting was devoted to a number of questions including: further regulation of rates on mutual access to the network of service providers, Significant Market Position (SMP) regulation, and prospects of 3G licenses implementation in Ukraine.

Opening the meeting Mr. Svyatoslav Gorban, Co-Chair of the Chamber Telecom Committee proposed to discuss the Draft Law “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Telecommunications” regarding Identification and Analysis of the Relevant Electronic Communication  Markets which are Potentionally Subjects to the Expected Regulation and Effective Mechanism Establishing” as well as  other new legistlative initiatives  regarding SMP and traffic markets.

Ms. Liudmila Ezhova, National Commission for Communications Regulation started her speech with Significant Market Position (SMP) regulation in Ukraine. She highlighted that the National Commission for Communications Regulation has been working on analysis of traffic transit market of Ukraine for identification of telecommunications operators with significant market position. The decision will also include provisions on definition of effectively competitive markets, markets with unworkable competition, transit market, traffic termination market, rates etc. Ms. Ezhova set time frames for a final decision on SMP in a couple of weeks. If the document is adopted as proposed, the rates are expected to come into force in January 2012 and to apply at least for a year.

Ms. Ezhova informed the participants that the Long-Run Average Incremental Cost (LRIC) model will be implemented in Ukrainian telecommunications market together with experts from the European Bank.

She also stressed that the Regulation will apply only to voice traffic, excluding SMS and other data traffic, as well as international traffic. Also, she said that there is a need to define an origination traffic market, as it wasn’t mentioned in the Law of Ukraine “On Telecommunications”.

The Draft Law obligates the National Commission for Communications Regulation to identify markets, make analysis of those markets, and set obligations.

Mr. Mykola Sokyrko, Head of Department of Licensing and Radio Frequencies, NCCR updated participants on 3G licenses implementation in Ukraine. He stressed that conversion is going to be implemented next year, and according to current legislation, existing radio frequencies are not provided for use in that case.

Summarizing the discussions on this issue Mr. Svyatoslav Gorban stressed the need to work closely with government authorities and promote further cooperation.

Next Chamber Telecom Committee Meeting was scheduled for Friday, October 21, 10:00AM.

If you or one of your colleagues would like to participate in the Chamber Telecom Committee Meetings and receive informational updates, please feel free to contact Svetlana Burlaka, Chamber Policy Officer (Committees).

On Wednesday, June 29^th, 2011 the Chamber Telecom Committee held its regular meeting with the participation of Mr. Igor Kurus, Director of the National Project “Open World”. 

The meeting was devoted to a number of questions such as: adoption of new technology in education, telecommunication infrastructure sharing between mobile operators, as well as mobile payments. 

Opening the meeting Mr. Sergiy Gavrish, Alcatel-Lucent Ukraine, Co-Chair of the Chamber Telecom Committee, underlined the importance of the National Project “Open World” for the development of education in Ukraine and stressed that the Chamber Telecom Committee members are ready to provide comprehensive assistance in this regard. 

Mr. Igor Kurus, Director of the National Project “Open World”, made a presentation on the project and updated the participants on its methodology, main goals and targeted audience. He touched upon the benefits of the project implementation that, in his opinion, will result in simplification of finding necessary educational materials by students, will provide access to textbooks from any location and ability to repeat the lesson easily, make lessons more interesting, etc. It will certainly simplify the work for teachers and school administrations too. 

Mr. Kurus is convinced that the project will have positive social impact, as it will provide equal access to quality educational materials for each student regardless of place of residence, raise the quality of education, solve the problems of distance education and create new jobs. 

He told about the strategy and phases of the project realization and mentioned that the pilot project will be launched in November. 

To download his presentation please click here (UKR). 

Please keep in mind that you have to be logged into the Chamber SharePoint prior to accessing the documents. In order to access the document, please enter you login and password, then return to the Update and click the link. 

Director of the National Project “Open World” and Chamber Telecom Committee Leadership proposed the Chamber member companies to join the project, including on the phase of business plan preparation. There is a possibility of holding joint meetings. 

We would like to encourage you to provide feedback if you are interested in joining the project. 

Mr. Vitaliy Izgorev, Ukrtower LLC, in his presentation touched upon the issues of telecommunications infrastructure sharing between mobile operators, describing the main questions relating to the “Renting of Towers” business model, advantages of rent for operators, as well as joint use of towers and indoor systems. 

He stated that our companies should use the widely spread practice (for example, in the USA, Mexico, China, Belarus, Italy, and Turkey) of joint use of towers and indoor systems, as such business model could save telecom companies’ costs and our environment. 

To download his presentation please click here (RUS). 

The participants of the meeting underlined the need for legislative consolidation of the proposed business model. 

The last point of the agenda was devoted to mobile payments. In this regard Mr. Saulius Bakas, Deloitte, told about the Deloitte research regarding mobile payments, the main goal of which was to gain insights on how senior executives viewed the potential of mobile payment in the United States, the key barriers to this system deployment, and solutions for using its potential. 

To download his presentation please click here (RUS). 

Ms. Anna Kolchak, MTS Ukraine, updated the participants on the current situation in Ukraine with development of mobile payments use and explained the difference between our country and the USA, and touched upon the best practices in this regard. She paid attention of the attendees to some legislation limitations that hamper the development of this sphere.   

Summarizing discussions Mr. Sergiy Gavrish proposed to the interested companies to prepare the draft letter regarding unsolved problems with mobile payments.

If you or one of your colleagues would like to participate in the Chamber Telecom Committee Meetings and receive informational updates, please feel free to contact Svetlana Bykova, Chamber Committee Coordinator.

On Tuesday, May 31^st the Chamber Telecom Committee held its regular meeting that was devoted to the issues of simplification of access to the telecommunication services market, telecommunication infrastructure sharing between mobile operators, as well as mobile payments. 

Mr. Igor Pigarev, Government and Industry Relation Manager, Ericsson, briefly updated the participants on the current status and expectations, as well as about the legal framework and environment for the licensing of maintenance operations. The participants have decided to invite the representatives of the NCCR to one of the further Committee meetings to discuss this question with the decision makers. 

Mr Vitaliy Izgorev, Business Development Manager, Ukrtower LLC, touched upon the issue of telecommunications infrastructure sharing between mobile operators, describing the main questions relating to the “Renting of Towers” business model, advantages of rent for operators, as well as joint use of towers and indoor systems. 

The participants decided to address this subject again during the next Committee meeting and invite the representatives of the State Agency of Investments and National Projects Management of Ukraine engaged in this activity. 

Mr. Saulius Bakas, Deliotte, has familiarized the participants with information about the Deloitte research regarding the mobile payments, the main goal of which was to gain insights on how senior executives viewed the potential of mobile payment in the United States, the key barriers to this system deployment, and solutions for using its potential. Following the discussion of this issue, the participants decided to invite the representatives of the National Bank of Ukraine and State Tax Administration of Ukraine to the next Committee meeting with the aim of sharing with them the position of telecom companies on the development of this sector in Ukraine.   

The participants also held a brief strategic planning session and defined the main topics for the next Committee meetings. 

If you or one of your colleagues would like to participate in the Chamber Telecom Committee Meetings and receive informational updates, please feel free to contact Svetlana Bykova, Chamber Committee Coordinator.

On Friday, April 29^th, 2011 the Chamber Telecom Committee held its regular meeting with the participation of several governmental officials. In particular, the State Customs Service of Ukraine was represented by Mr. Sergii Siomka, Director of the Department for Organization of Customs Control and Clearance; Mr. Anatolii Gutnyk, Director of the Department for the Classification, and Mr. Oleksandr Moskal, Deputy Director of the Department for Declaring Management and Customs Regimes. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Oleksii Zadorozhnyi, Deputy Director of the Department for Income Tax from the State Tax Service of Ukraine. The interests of the State Administration of Communications of Ukraine were represented by Mr. Viktor Vozniuk, Counselor, and Mr. Yurii Kargapolov, Director of the Department for the Development Strategy of Communications.

The meeting was devoted to a number of questions, such as: mobile number portability and use of personal numbers, terms of equipment repair according to the Customs Code, profit tax for engineering services and new requirements for Ukrainian telecom legislation.

Opening the meeting Mr. Sergii Gavrish, Co-Chair of the Telecom Committee, Alcatel-Lucent Ukraine, proposed discuss the terms of equipment repair according to the Customs Code. He updated the participants that according to the item 240 of the current Customs Code of Ukraine, equipment repair must be fulfilled within 90 days. Such a limited period of time creates difficulties for telecommunication companies, as telecommunications equipment is manufactured abroad and its after-sales service is also executed abroad, generally in China, South and North America. Companies often miss this deadline because of the long distance and sophisticated process of repairmen that needs a long period of time, as a result of which they bear administrative responsibility. Taking this issue into account, he proposed to extend the deadline.

A guest-speaker, Mr. Sergii Siomka, informed the attendees that according to the legislation in force such a deadline for some product groups was extended to 360 days. He explained that these amendments were initiated, as a matter of fact, by companies that turned to the Cabinet of Minister of Ukraine with such an appeal. He proposed to the Chamber member companies to send the letter to the CMU asking to extend the deadline and indicating sensible arguments and the list of goods with their codes.

Mr. Sergii Siomka also informed the participants that the draft law, determining 360 days as a deadline for repairing all sorts of equipment, was adopted in the first reading. He underlined that adoption of this law would solve the above-mentioned problem.

Mr. Oleksandr Moskal added that the draft Customs Code of Ukraine also provided for the 360 days term of the equipment repairing. He stressed that the State Customs Service of Ukraine supported the need for prolongation of such terms.

The participants decided to send the Chamber letter to the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Banking, Tax and Customs Policy if the above-mentioned draft law is not adopted in the second reading.

Mr. Sergii Siomka promised that the SCSU would inform the Chamber about the changes in the legislation relating this issue.

The second item of the agenda was devoted to profit tax for engineering services.

Mr. Sergii Gavrish updated the participants that provisions of the current Tax Code of Ukraine contain the list of charges not accounted for as ‘expenses’ in the determination of the income tax, including engineering services that were purchased from non-residents. This provision can be interpreted in such a way that expenses on engineering can be borne only by the companies that import equipment. Thus, companies that engage in the provision of services for commissioning and project work can use engineering services in their expenditures while determining the income tax. Taking into account the above-mentioned problem, he proposed to grant a right to deduct taxable costs of engineering for services rendered regardless of the implemented contractual scheme.

A guest-speaker, Mr. Oleksii Zadorozhnyi acknowledged the existence of this problem and shortcomings of the legislation. He proposed the Chamber members to participate in the working groups under the Parliamentary Committee that develop amendments to the Tax Code (draft law # 8217 dated 12.03.2011).

Ms. Anna Podvysotskaya, MTS Ukraine Private Joint Stock Company, asked the representatives of the State Administration of Communications of Ukraine to update the participants of the meeting about the latest developments in the mobile number portability and use of personal numbers.

Mr. Viktor Vozniuk told that the State Administration of Communications of Ukraine was in the process of liquidation, which in its turn significantly complicated the work in this area.

Mr. Yurii Kargapolov informed the participants that the State Administration of Communications of Ukraine had held three meetings of the working group with the participation of mobile operators, as a result of which five schemes were developed that could be implemented in the market. He stressed that none of these schemes was fully agreed by all the participants of the working group. He also informed that because of the liquidation process, this activity was terminated.

The last item of the agenda was devoted to the new requirements for Ukrainian telecom legislation. Mr. Sergii Gavrish updated the participants on the latest developments in this sphere made in Russia and Belarus. Mr. Yurii Kargapolov informed that Ukraine would use the practice of Russia in developing this sphere.

The participants decided to discuss the last two questions once again after the end of the administrative reform.

Please click here to download Minutes of this Meeting. 

If you or one of your colleagues would like to participate in Chamber Teleсom Committee Meetings and receive informational updates, please feel free to contact Svetlana Bykova, Chamber Committee Coordinator.

On Wednesday, March 30^th, 2011 the Telecom Committee held its regular Meeting with the participation of several officials. In particular, the National Bank of Ukraine was represented by the director of the Payment Systems Department Ms. Natalia Lapko, deputy director of the Department of mass electronic payments Mr. Borys Diachenko, director of the Department of the supervision over payment systems and systems of settlements Ms. Olena Makhaieva, deputy director of the Department of the payment systems Ms. Natalia Vozniuk, director of the Department for the retail payment policy Mr. Volodymyr Kharchenko. The meeting was also attended by three representatives of the National Commission for Communications Regulation, namely: members of the Commission Ms. Liudmila Ezhova and Ms. Iryna Polischuk, as well as deputy director of the Telecommunications Department Mr. Ivan Khokhotva and deputy director of the Economic Department Ms. Liubov Tkachenko. The interests of the Antimonopily Committee of Ukraine were represented by deputy director of the Department for control over market, transport, communications, housing and communal services Ms. Larysa Sotnyk. 

The meeting was devoted to a number of questions, such as: mobile banking and payments, number portability and usage of personal numbers, international roaming regulation attempts, VAT issue in content’s buy and sell, as well as the rules and technical requirements for IMS architecture. 

Opening the meeting Mr. Vasyl Latsanych, Co-Chair of the Telecom Committee, MTS, proposed to start the meeting with the discussion of the opportunities for the development of mobile banking and mobile payments in Ukraine, as well as regulatory factors that prevent it. He also proposed the attendances to consider positive examples of telecommunications markets in other countries in order to create a similar market in Ukraine. 

A guest-speaker Mr. Roman Savvin, MTS Russia, in his presentation titled “Mobile payments in Russia and the world” told about the classification of mobile payments, named the leading mobile operators in the world, outlined the characteristic features of this market in Russia, as well as gave clear recommendations regarding the development of mobile commerce in Ukraine. He also stressed that project of mobile banking and payments will never become a rival to banks, as it is called for making only small payments. 

To download his presentation, please click here (RUS). 

Please keep in mind that you have to be logged into the Chamber SharePoint prior to accessing the documents. In order to access the document, please enter you login and password, then return to the Update and click the link. 

The government officials and representatives of telecommunications companies discussed the problems of Ukrainian legislation that prevent the above-mentioned sphere from developing. 

Ms. Olena Makhaieva and Ms. Natalia Lapko stressed the necessity to bring terms in line with international standards and avoid their different interpretations. They stressed that the service, in question, should be called as “providing a service of payment”, not the “electronic commerce”. And only after agreeing terms it will be easier to regulate this area. 

The participants of the meeting were also informed that several draft laws containing provisions concerning the e-commerce regulation had already been registered in the Parliament.

It was decided to prepare the draft Chamber position concerning the necessary amendments to the laws that regulate mobile banking and payments and then send it to the State Tax Administration of Ukraine.

Speaking about the number portability and usage of personal numbers Mr. Ivan Khokhotva updated the attendances on the latest developments in this sphere. He also informed that according to the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine the State Communication Administration of Ukraine became responsible for elaborating technical requirements for this sphere. Thus, the participants decided to invite to the next Chamber Committee meeting representatives of the above-mentioned governmental authority.

Ms. Tatiana Mashnina, MTS Ukraine, while making her presentation titled “Regulation of roaming tariffs”, told about the best international practices in roaming regulation, as well as about the steps taken by MTS in order to implement the Recommendations, issued by the Antimonopily Committee of Ukraine in the last year. She underlined the necessity of bringing the national regulation in correspondence with the international or regional.

To download her presentation, please click here (RUS).

Ms. Larysa Sotnyk informed the participants that the Antimonopily Committee of Ukraine was going to request telecommunication companies to provide data concerning roaming tariffs established between the operators.

Summarizing the discussions on this issue Mr. Vasyl Latsanych and Mr. Yuriy Kurmaz, Secretary of the Telecom Committee, Astelit LLC, stressed the necessity of establishing agreements between the regulatory authorities of different countries in order to reduce roaming tariffs.

One of the agenda items was devoted to VAT issue in content’s buy and sell. Mr. Sergii Samokrik, MTS Ukraine, in his presentation titled “The issue of VAT in the content” informed the participants on the consequences of implementation of the new Tax Code of Ukraine and underlined the absence of single interpretation of the changes introduced by it.

To download his presentation, please click here (RUS).

Mr. Sergey Gavrish, Co-Chair of the Telecom Committee, Alcatel-Lucent Ukraine, initiated the discussion of the problems combined with the rules and technical requirements for IMS architecture, since the shortcoming of Ukrainian legislation hinder the implementation of new information technologies. 

It was decided to invite the representatives of the National Commission for Communications Regulation and the State Communication Administration of Ukraine to one of the next Chamber Committee meetings in order to discuss this issue more thoroughly.

Please click here to download Minutes of the recent Telecom Committee Meeting, held on March 30, 2011. 

If you or one of your colleagues would like to participate in the Chamber Telecom Committee Meetings and receive informational updates, please feel free to contact Svetlana Bykova, Chamber Committee Coordinator.

During the Meeting the participants discussed the Priorities of the Committee for 2011 as well as the agenda for the next quarter. 

At the Meeting the Members of the Chamber Telecom Committee agreed on sending the request to the National Commission for Communications Regulation (NCCR) in regards to updates on MNP, SNP as well as certain clarifications regarding the development of procedures of market definition and cost calculation.   

In case the Chamber receives the information from the NCCR the upcoming Special Meeting will be devoted to Number portability Law, its feasibility and implementation; 

The upcoming Meetings will be also devoted to: 

1. Mobile banking and mobile payments – legislation and cooperation 

2. Legislation & regulations:

• Draft amendments to the Law on Telecommunications – discussion of the improvement of the Telecom Law;
• National Commission for Communications Regulation (NCCR) - Rules of rendering Telecom services in Ukraine;

4. Fraudulent termination of market situation – possible consolidation of operators to stand against; Customers’ Black Lists – inter-operators’ database – feasibility and implementation;

5. VAT issue in content’s buy and sell 

Ms. Olena Kovtunets, UkrTower LLC suggested discussion of joint use of the objects of infrastructure, joint co-location of operators’ equipment as well as the experience of other countries in those areas at the meeting.

If you or one of your colleagues would like to participate in the Chamber Telecom Committee Meetings and receive informational updates, please feel free to contact Nataly Markizkaya, Chamber Committee Coordinator.

1. #391“On Approval of Amendments to the Regulations regarding Granting Permissions for Import from Abroad to Ukraine of Radio-Electronic Means and Radiating Devices” (corresponding Draft Decision #330)
2. #392 “On Approval of Amendments to the Procedure of Implementation in Ukraine of Radio-Electronic Means and Radiating Devices” (corresponding Draft Decision #331)  

Mr. Oleg Ovcharenko and Mr. Roman Shkryl, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. updated on the above-mentioned Decisions and prepared the Presentation “New Labeling Regulation”. To view the Presentation by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. please click here.

Taking into account the urgent importance of the issue, the Committee took the decision to use the opportunities for joint advocacy in the Chamber, in particular: to appeal with the Letter to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine requesting to review the mentioned decisions taking into account the interests of the producers of RED and RD as well as the importers and distributors in Ukraine.

 To see the Minutes of the Committee Meeting please click here.

1)      Law #2391-VI “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Radio-frequency Resource of Ukraine” (regarding the authority of the National Commission for Communication Regulation (NCCR)”.

 According to the document, the Law:

2)      Law #2392-VI “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Telecommunication” regarding the Increase of the List of the Services”.

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The Chamber would like to encourage Members of the Chamber Telecom Committee to provide comments and ideas regarding the above-mentioned Laws for further preparation of the corresponding letters to the Parliament. Please send your comments to the Chamber Telecom Committee Coordinator Nataly Markizkaya till October 6, 2010.

Please click here to download the Minutes of the meeting (Eng). 

The Policy Team of the Chamber in conjunction with the Committee Leadership look forward to further strengthening the Telecom Committee providing targeted advocacy solutions to the Telecom Community. The Chamber Policy Team would like to invite you to participate in the special Chamber Telecom Committee Survey and contribute your valuable feedback and comments regarding the Committee current and future activities.

Please click here to fill out the Survey and consider the deadline, which is Monday, May 17th, 2010.

We would like to thank all of you as well as the Committee Leadership for continuous support and proactive position!

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2. 2010 Global Telecom Predictions. Speaker – Mr. Saulius Bakas, Deloitte;

3. Other.