The Economic Affairs Committee on Monday discussed the legislative intent for a bill of amendments to the Electronic Communications Act with which the state aims to establish a funding model for financing TTJA services.

The legislative amendment would establish a regulatory fee for telecom companies, set at 0.2 percent of the company's telecommunications services revenue. Between approximately 20 telecom companies, this sum would end up totaling around €900,000.

Committee chair Jaak Aab told ERR that it will be up to the companies themselves to decide whether they'll pass the planned additional cost on to consumers. He noted that in case they do, the additional cost to consumers would amount to pennies.

"It would be maybe a couple of cents on the monthly bill, no more, if it were passed on in full to consumers," he explained. "But I'm saying that this does not have to be passed on to the consumer."

According to Aab, the legislative intent earned a positive assessment from the Economic Affairs Committee, and he believes that this process will move forward. He noted that similar regulatory fees are already employed in every other neighboring country.

Commenting previously on the legislative intent, Doris Põld, CEO of the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL), said that in today's economic recession, it isn't justified to burden companies with new taxes or fees aimed at expanding the public sector.

"It isn't nice to do anything at all in such times," Aab responded when asked whether burdening companies with new fees is justified. "The challenges the TTJA is facing – they simply cannot manage, and then the question is whether all of it should be financed by taxpayer money or whether it should be sought from market participants. This doesn't cover all of the TTJA's costs even as a telecom regulator either – only partially."

According to the legislative intent, beginning next year, a regulatory fee of 0.2 percent of telecommunications services revenue would be imposed on companies with an annual telecom services revenue of at least €500,000. Around 20 such telecoms currently exist in Estonia, whose contributions would total approximately €900,000, which would partially cover the operational costs and investment needs of the TTJA as a telecom regulator. More than half, or 56 percent, of the TTJA's telecom-related operational costs would continue to come from the state budget.

The primary services provided by the TTJA to telecom companies include mobile frequency planning, market analysis and regulation, dispute resolution between companies, public engagement of companies in telecom planning, organizing telecom continuity, cybersecurity and crisis management as well as resolution of radio interference issues.

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