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specialist in the mostly advanced ICT and eGovernance countries (UK, USA, Singapore,
South Korea, etc.);
4) New Education Code is under development.
The strategic approach consists of using advantages, overcoming weaknesses by
transforming opportunities into advantages and mitigating the identified risks and threats.
III. DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEMS
3.1. Unoptimized infrastructure and irregular access
14. The main access and penetration indices:
1) mobile telephony – 119,7% (covering – 99% of the territory / EU – 128%);
2) fixed telephony – 33,87% / EU – 43%;
3) broadband fixed Internet – 11,72% / EU-27,2%;
4) Internet via mobile networks (modems/cards) – 4,7% / EU-7,5%;
5) households broadband Internet connection – 35%;
These indices confirm a substantial gap in comparison with the EU countries average. The
difference is due to the investments which have been made in the redundant infrastructures with
a low use of existing capacities.
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15. The limited access (especially by prices) to the associated infrastructure (mainly to
ducts) of the historical operator restricts the access of other operators, thus installation of the
overhead cables being a cheaper solution. In most cases associated infrastructure (pillars, ducts,
etc.) is not divided, fact that leads to a longer investments return period and high network
maintenance costs, and therefore restrict technological development opportunities and increase
prices levels for the final users.
A long-run solution is needed to streamline the existing associated administrative
infrastructure that shall be proposed based on a detailed analysis of the options, including the
separation of infrastructure entity from the retail service providers.
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16. Although the Republic of Moldova is among the top 20 countries in the world by
Internet access speed10, the broadband connectivity required to meet present and future needs of
the country isn’t available throughout the entire territory of the country. About 30% of rural
areas still do not have broadband access.
17. Because of the construction industry regulations focused on a single provider of
electronic communications services, apartment buildings have not set distribution
channels/networks for Internet access and in some blocks are installed a significant number of
cables, which deteriorates the interior and exterior aspect of the buildings.
3.2. Underdeveloped local digital content and the low availability of electronic
services
18. According to the annual national survey 2012 “the perception, assimilation and support
by the population of the e-Government transformation”, conducted in November 2012 by the
Institute for Public Policy and Magenta, upon the request of the Center for Electronic
Governance: 16% of users practice electronic commerce, 8% use Internet banking services.
About 63% of the users download digital content, 33% use Internet for education and training,
16% execute procurement and command of some services provided by privet institutions and
access web pages of the central public institutions, while only 1 out of 20 uses Internet for
accessing electronic public services.