The Chair of the Georgian National Communications Commission, Vakhtang Abashidze, during the presentation of his Commission’s annual report before the Parliament of Georgia, emphasised the service and prices of mobile telephone operators. Mr Abashidze stated: "Georgia is one of the cheapest countries in the world in terms of mobile [telephone] service prices. This is not my data. This is the data of international organisations, international associations and analytical services."

FactCheck

verified the information about the mobile telephone service prices of Georgia-based operators.

In order to clarify the data that Vakhtang Abashidze had in mind during his speech, FactCheck contacted him with the request to identify his sources of information. In his interview with FactCheck,

Mr Abashidze stated that he had made his comments based upon the data of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Analyzys Mason. Additionally, the Georgian National Communications Commission also provided us with its 2014 report which includes information about the retail prices of mobile telephone operators.

The ITU is a United Nations agency and international telecommunication union which deals with telecommunications throughout the world. One of the agency’s latest reports was published in 2014 and includes the data of 2013. The report lists the prices for one-minute mobile telephone communication in different countries for both on-net and off-net calls. The report for 2015 will be published in December of this year.

According to the ITU Report,

prices for mobile telephone operators are calculated based upon on-net and off-net calls together with calls on fixed-line telephones. There are two indicators used in the report: the price is given both in USD and in the national currency purchasing power parity to USD (PPP$). Additionally, times are differentiated with each other based upon peak (06:01 am -18:00 pm) and off-peak (18:01 pm -06:00 am) periods.

The 2014 data of the ITU indicates that the average price for a one-minute on-net call between Georgian mobile telephone operators was USD 0.01 (0.01 PPP$) in 2013. This number puts Georgia in the second place after Russia among the 166 countries worldwide. The highest rate is registered in Ireland – USD 0.6 (0.47 PPP$). Ireland is followed by Greece with its USD 0.54 (0.57 PPP$), Brazil – USD 0.53 (0.64 PPP$) and others.

The price of a one-minute off-net call was USD 0.06 in Georgia (0.12 PPP$). This number puts Georgia in the sixth place among the 166 countries worldwide. The highest rate is registered in Switzerland – USD 0.65 (PPP$0.39) and in Ireland USD 0.6 (PPP$ 0.47). They are followed by Brazil – USD 0.55 (0.66 PPP$) and Greece – USD 0.54 (0.57 PPP$). The lowest rate is registered in Bangladesh – USD 0.01 (0.04 PPP$).

The price of a one-minute call to fixed-line telephones was USD 0.06 (0.12 PPP$) in Georgia which put the country in the seventh place in the global ranking. Brazil had the highest price in that regard – USD 0.55 (0.66 PPP$) whilst the lowest price was registered in Russia – USD 0.00.

The price for one SMS, both on-net and off-net, was USD 0.04 (0.07 PPP$) in Georgia. The country ranked fifth in terms of the price for a one on-net SMS and ranked fourth in terms of the price fora one off-net SMS. The highest prices (USD 0.21) in this regard are registered in Brazil and the Netherlands whilst the lowest prices were registered in Russia and Canada (USD 0.00).

According to the 2015 Report of the Georgian National Telecommunications Commission, which includes the data for 2014, the number of mobile telephone customers is 5.4 million in Georgia. This number is 8.2% (410,000 customers) more as compared to the number of the previous year. At the end of 2014, in terms of the number of customers, Magticom’s market share was 37.6%, Geocell’s market share was 35.2% and Mobitel’s market share was 26.6%. The retail income of mobile telephone operators in 2014 was GEL 455 million which is 0.1% (GEL 400,000) less as compared to the income received in 2013. Of this income, 70.1% was for voice services, 9.9% was for SMS, 4.1% was for the internet and 16% was for other additional services.

The total outgoing traffic in 2014 was 8.7 billion minutes which is 9.9% more as compared to the data of the previous year. The biggest chunk (78.5%) of the outgoing traffic comprised calls made within a subscriber’s own mobile network. The share of calls made to networks of other mobile operators was 17.3% whilst the share of calls made to fixed-line telephones was 2.2% and the share of international calls was 1.4%. The share of all of the other calls (interactive, hotline calls) was 0.6%. According to the data of the fourth quarter of 2014, prices were GEL 0.028 for a one-minute call within a subscriber’s own network, GEL 0.085 for a one-minute call to another mobile telephone operator’s network and GEL 0.077 for a one-minute call to fixed-line telephones.

Conclusion

According to the 2013 data of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the retail price for a one-minute on-net call was USD 0.01 whilst the retail price for a one-minute off-net call was USD 0.06. The price of one SMS was USD 0.04. These numbers put Georgia amongst the world cheapest countries of the 166 countries worldwide.

Therefore, FactCheck concludes that Zurab Abashidze’s statement is TRUE.