Communications

The forthcoming amendments to the Electronic Communications Act, which introduce the rules of the European Code for Electronic Communications in the national legislation, have been presented to the telecommunications operators.

The proposed texts encourage enterprises to invest in new infrastructure for the deployment of very high capacity networks (download speeds of at least 100 Mbps), including in more remote areas. The changes are aimed at providing regulatory predictability for the provision of radio spectrum for wireless broadband.

The National Assembly adopted some of the laws so important for the Transport, Information Technology and Communications Sectors that allow for better regulation of public relations and better law enforcement. This was stated by Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during a report on the activities of MTITC before the beginning of the Council of Ministers meeting today.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova and Chinese Ambassador Dong Xiaojun validated a post stamp for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and China.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and the Sovereign Order of Malta was marked by the launch of a postage stamp. The seal of validation was affixed by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova and Secretary General for Foreign Policy of the Sovereign Maltese Order Stefano Ronca in the presence of President Rumen Radev and Grand Master Fra Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetlo.

The first postal and philatelic edition dedicated to diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Japan has been validated today. The lounch seal was put by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs George Georgiev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Bulgaria Masato Watanabe and the Executive Director of Bulgarian Post Deyan Duneshki .

Bulgaria supports the market development of the cloud service providers in the EU. This was stated by Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov at the Council of Ministers meeting on Telecommunications in Brussels. One of the topics today was "The European Union as a centre for ethical use of data".

The Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications (MTITC) is a strategic partner in a technology and financial support initiative for startup companies that develop artificial intelligence based applications. This was announced today by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova at the conference "Artificial Intelligence and I" in Sofia Tech Park. The event was organized by the Digital National Coalition, SAS Institute, Deloitte and Vivacom.

European Union’s Member States, including Bulgaria are working on a coordinated security mechanism for 5G networks. This was stated by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during the Cybersecurity Summit in Berlin. He added that in December the Council of the European Union is going to approve conclusions on the importance of the fifth-generation networks and security aspects.

Additional bandwidths for the development of fifth generation (5G) mobile networks were identified during the World Radiocommunication Conference. The Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov participated in the final sessions and the signing of the final documents on behalf of Bulgaria. The Forum is organized by the International Telecommunication Union and sets out the directions for the development of radio communications and radio spectrum management worldwide. This year's event took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Cybersecurity is one of the most important issues in both defense and civil life. This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova at the opening of the Sofia Chapter Annual Conference AFCEA on Industry and HiTech for Defense and National Security.  In her words, the entry of high technology is important, but it can be both an advantage and a danger.

In 2020, there will be “smart” cities in Bulgaria with fifth generation mobile networks. This was stated by  the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during a discussion on “5G: Intelligent Transformation and Growth”. Representatives of the management of the Communications Regulation Commission, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Ministry of Health, telecom operators and experts participated in the forum.

The 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was marked today with the validation of a postal-philatelic edition. The validation seal was put by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy Zornitsa Rusinova and the chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection Eleonora Lilova.

Geographic information systems are a tool for making responsible, important policy decisions at the state and local level. This was stated by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during the opening of a conference dedicated to the World GIS Day'2019. "I cannot imagine road, rail, maritime and river infrastructure without modern geographical data based applications," he said.

Fifth generation 5G mobile networking services are the basis of smart cities, where technologies are implemented for the benefit of residents, of environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions. This was stated by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during the presentation of the new technology capabilities.

"5G operates at 100 times the speed, at least 1 million devices per square kilometer can be connected, there is almost no delay in data transmission speed," the minister said during a presentation organized by Vivacom.

The state recommends the logistics sector with the construction of modern transport infrastructure and the development of fifth generation mobile networks. This implies that the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova opens the Logistics Conference in 2019. The organizers of the forum with the Bulgarian Transport Press and Logistics Magazine.

Of the 45 Bulgarian municipalities that applied for the third WiFi4EU competition, 41 municipalities received 615,000 euros in funding. This was made clear by the results announced today by the European Commission.

Bulgarian Posts EAD will distribute and sell print periodicals across the country. The purpose of the Council of Ministers decision is creating prerequisites for better conditions for distribution and sale of printed periodicals across the territory of the country. In this way, the existing competition on the market will be improved by the participation of a state-owned company holding an individual universal postal operator license. The state provides publishers the opportunity for access to the end user under pre-announced, clear and precise conditions for each of them.

Insufficient IT staffing capacity is one of the most common challenges to guaranteeing cybersecurity, according to 64 percent of those surveyed. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova at a roundtable on Information Security Issues. Next, 48 percent of organizations say cybersecurity is not sufficient, and 45 percent say there are some gaps in the regulatory framework and the practice of outsourcing IT services, in some cases leading to poor quality.

Sofia will host the World Philatelic Exhibition in 2020. This was announced by the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov during the opening of the European Philatelic Exhibition "Plovdiv Fila 2019" and the International Fair "Bulkolekto".

He recalled that the word "philately" means "friends forever." "It combines both the collector's spirit and the historical memory with the works of art, which are postage stamps," the minister said.

The Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Andreana Atanasova has been elected Vice-Chair of the European Commission's Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG). This post is being held for the first time by a representative from Eastern Europe.