Kakha Bekauri, chair of the National Communications Commission (ComCom), delivered the 2022 annual report to the Human Rights and Civic Integration Committee in the parliament.

The ComCom Chair spoke about the national plan for the distribution of radio frequencies, new technologies and services, among them 5G networks and diapasons of satellite services.

Here are the main takeaways:

ComCom began Telecom market complex research based on the EU-funded Facility for the Implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement (AA Facility).

ComCom facilitated the process of telephone number porting (switching from one to a different provider) for subscribers in 2022.

According to Kakha Bekauri, in 2022, the number of mobile service subscribers amounted to 5.84 million, of which 1.38 million were legal entity subscribers and 4.46 million were individual subscribers. He noted that the penetration of the mobile services market in Georgia is high and amounts to 170%.

Last year, the number of fixed Internet subscribers reached 1,080,000, which made a 7% increase year-on-year with an increase of 70.6 thousand users.

Last year, there were 116 authorized television broadcasting channels, 43 licensed radio broadcasters and 22 national open-air television broadcasters in Georgia.

Remarking on the advertising revenues of broadcasting, Kakha Bekauri noted that in 2022, the total advertising revenues of broadcasters amounted to 79.9 million GEL.

According to ComCom Chair, a significant challenge for the broadcasting field is the violation of the Law on Broadcasting, in particular the violation of sponsorship and product placement rules, as well as the placement of political advertisements during the non-election period.