The basic package of universal service consists, according to the Law on Electronic Communications, of the following services: providing access to a public telephone network at a fixed location, the directory inquiry service and access to the directory, access to public pay phones and equal access to a public telephone network for persons with special needs. It can be concluded that availability of the basic package has been ensured. Throughout the territory of the country voice telephony is available and in most cases there are at least two separate infrastructures that enable such access. One infrastructure is the fixed telephony and the other is the mobile telephony. In some areas, in particular in the areas of the larger cities some cable networks experiment with offering telephone service through their networks, by using the so called VoIP technology. Still, availability has not been completely ensured as prices for telecommunication services are high, in particular compared to the low average income. In the RM, the percentage of income allocated to telecommunications is higher than in the EU countries. After having conducted several researches, it has become clear that telecommunication costs represent a real burden on the income of many families. Consequently, there is a trend of reduced use of the fixed telephony, and an increased use of the mobile telephony. Although the price for a call is higher, payment may be made per call, and in addition, at least for pre-paid packages, there is no monthly subscription. Pursuant to the Law on Electronic Communications, a Universal Service Fund may be established to which all operators will contribute and that will be used for payment of the additional costs of the operator providing universal service. Still, there are not many examples of the well functioning of such a fund. Although theoretically this is an optimal solution from economic point of view, there are enormous practical difficulties. Therefore, first other solutions should be looked into before applying this option. In practice, if there is not a sufficient institutional capacity to effectively manage such a fund, it may represent a market distortion factor in which case it should be avoided. In the short-term, it is not necessary to take measures as the increase in competition will lead to reduction in prices and consequently, to reducing the need for compensation of eventual loss of the operator providing universal service. Measure 2.3. The regulatory authority in charge of electronic communications, following the adoption of this Strategy, should undertake detailed in-depth research and analysis so as to define the optimal universal service strategy for the country. Page 14 of 40