The Middle Occasion group of the Riigikogu turned to the Minister of Economic system and Data Know-how Tiit Riisalo with an inquiry to seek out out, amongst different issues, why Estonian residents pay a lot extra for web companies than elsewhere in Europe, why are web connection speeds so low. in Estonia and whether or not the federal government plans to do one thing to enhance this example.
“It’s not possible for the state to look silly as a result of the individuals of Estonia are paying probably the most costly costs for one of many slowest web in Europe,” stated the deputy chairman central Riigikogu social gathering group. Vadim Belobrovtsev of cost. “We’re coping with a shameful state of affairs the place the intervention of the state could be very a lot wanted. It’s the job of the minister and his ministry to create measures that might enhance this example. “
“Estonians pay some huge cash for very gradual web, however the Authorities of the Republic has not taken any steps to unravel the issue,” stated Vadim Belobrovtsev. “This case a disgrace for the nation, which for a number of years was thought-about one of many leaders in Europe and the world in digital improvement. We’ve been saying for the reason that starting of this century that it isn’t a privilege to make use of the Web, however a human proper. It appears that evidently our nation is way from guaranteeing this human proper.”
The politician of the middle social gathering identified that if Telia in Lithuania gives Web with a pace of as much as 250 Mbit / s for 14-16 euros, in accordance with the phrases of the contract, in Estonia Telia can’t Elisa can get even the slowest fastened connection. for that cash, and Elisa desires the slowest, ie house web 15 megabit 18 euros and Telia 19 euros per 30 days for its 20-megabit connection. “Along with very costly web companies, Estonia additionally has issues with connection pace. In keeping with European Fee information, solely 35.5 % of cable web service customers in Estonia used a minimum of a 100 megabit connection final 12 months. Among the many 27 member states of the European Union, Estonia ranked 26 with this indicator, solely Greece was behind us,” stated Vadim Belobrovtsev.
In keeping with Vadim Belobrovtsev, telecommunication firms in Estonia obtain good earnings and don’t have a powerful incentive to enhance the standard of service and make it extra accessible. “Representatives of the Competitors Authority and the Shopper Safety and Technical Investigation Authority don’t see change this example, referring to the truth that we’ve an oligopolistic market, that’s, there will not be many suppliers which is extra helpful to observe one another’s actions. quite than competing. Sadly, it should be stated that there are such a lot of service suppliers in lots of nations and in Estonia – between two and 4. This is applicable to Latvia and Lithuania, in addition to, for instance, Finland and Germany. In different phrases, the market state of affairs is kind of the identical in European nations, however for some motive it’s Estonian clients who pay belong belong begoaaaaaaa .
Vadim Belobrovtsev stated that the web revenue of the Swedish firm Telia, which has the most important market share in Estonia, elevated by 8.7 million euros final 12 months, reaching 63 million euros, whereas Elisa of Finnish origin earned a internet revenue of 12.5 million euro final 12 months. . “The federal government wants to take a look at these numbers and ask itself whether or not the state of affairs within the Estonian web market is favorable for the consumer, or whether or not large firms are making revenue due to the wants of extraordinary individuals, providing Disagreeable service to them at an absurdly time. excessive value,” he stated.