The Strategy and the Action Plan of the regulator, the regulatory procedures and the procedures for implementing the regulatory framework, should be adopted by the regulator and should regularly be updated and made available to the public so as to create a transparent, predictable regulatory framework that will in its turn increase the professional and the public awareness. The regulator must ensure its own further development as a professional and specialized organisation, as well as to ensure transparency and non-discrimination in its operation. Measure 2.2.a The independent regulatory authority in charge of regulating the electronic communications should develop its own Strategy and Action plan. Measure 2.2.b State agencies in charge of the development of the Information Society and media should take active participation in the European institutions for development of ICT and Information Society. II.3. Universal Service The basic concept of universal service (i.e. universal service obligation) says that all citizens have to access to a basic package of electronic communication services at affordable prices, even when the provision of the service is not profitable in certain geographic areas or with certain groups of users. Historically viewed, the universal service is most often provided by the dominant telecommunications operators with an implicit understanding that eventual loss in one area shall be compensated by additional profit in other areas. The increase of competition on the market reduces this implicit understanding because it is not logical that one operator should bear the burden for the provision of the universal service. It must be pointed out that this burden for the provision of the universal service is not always obvious. There are also non-financial benefits such as market penetration, access to customers, etc. Hence, attention is called for when undertaking measures for compensation of eventual loss of the operator providing universal service. The concept of universal service obligation consists of two main elements: access to the basic package and affordability of the main services. The access may be defined as provision of universal service to all end users regardless of their geographic location, while affordability means the provision of universal service at an affordable price in correlation with the specific economic conditions in the country, which anticipates introduction of equal tariffs regardless of the location and separate tariff options for meeting the needs of the low end users. Affordability also includes the possibility that users have insight in and control over the costs. Page 13 of 40