that will result in establishing the Information Society in the Republic of Macedonia on both demand-side and supply-side (mainly broadband internet understood as a technological service, that is as a foundation for the realisation of all advanced services). The level of development on the supply-side, i.e. the development of communication infrastructures, is directly dependent on the process of liberalisation and the development of the competition on the market of electronic communications. As concerns use of services, a crucial role is given to the development of broadband networks by way of policies that will stimulate the demand of various types of services of the information society. These policies may enable financial stimulations, improvement of administration services via e-Government, e-Health, e-Education, education of citizens, development of innovative public services, provision of protection and confidence systems, connection of the public administration, the schools, the hospitals, the small and medium enterprises, etc. Taking into account all of the foregoing, the National Strategy for Development of Information Society (NSIS) was adopted with consensus by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia on 21 September 2005. For the Republic of Macedonia this Strategy represents a document of the highest priority. By full implementation of the projects, measures and activities defined in this Strategy there is a real possibility for the country to overcome the digital divide and in short time to achieve leap frogging in the economic growth, in the reduction of the unemployment and poverty, in the development of the digital economy, in research and in partnerships with the industry. The need for such a Strategy concurs also with the necessity not to repeat certain mistakes2 from the past that have hampered the development of the telecommunications market in the Republic of Macedonia, which indirectly influence the entire economic development. I.1. Digital Convergence The digital convergence is a trend where the differences between historically divided activities in processing, archiving, distribution, emission and receipt of information in the form of text, picture, speech, audio and multimedia format are gradually decreasing. From a technical point of view, the digital convergence occurs between communication infrastructures, media, contents, services and digital terminal devices3. As a consequence of convergence, the interoperability between platforms, terminal devices and services becomes significantly important. 2 (privatisation of the national operator without first having provided an efficient legal frame for creation of a competitive telecommunications market and having established an independent regulatory authority with full powers to regulate the market) 3 Equipment for access to e-services and digital content ( for example computers, mobile equipment, digital set-top-boxes etc) Page 5 of 40