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GEORGIA

• "The 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands are not subject to licensing requirements. For noncommercial users, a permit issued by the GNCC is all that is required. ISPs and data transmission companies (who already have a licence) can be given a permit for use of these bands... Twelve-month Wi-Fi permits are available when the system is to be used for noncommercial purposes and for commercial purposes in certain circumstances. There are, in total, six different types of permit related to Wi-Fi use (independent of the licences needed if the entity is a telecommunications provider) and separate from the registration of the equipment itself..." ---Final Report: Monitoring of Russia and Ukraine (priority 1) and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Moldova (priority 2) - Telecommunications and the Information Society, by Political Intelligence and Internews for the European Commission, December 2006 (chapter 7: Georgia).
• English translation of the "Law on Electronic Communication" (6 June 2005): According to "Overview of the Georgian Telecommunication System," by Tamaz Kachlishvili (Ministry of Economic Development) presented at a conference in Kyrgyzstan, 2 February 2006, the law on electronic communication introduces a European approach, requiring only general authorization unless scarce resources are used (radio frequencies or phone numbers). The law says: "The [Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC)] shall issue licenses for the use of radio frequency spectrum and/or numbering resource pursuant to the present law, the Georgian law 'on licenses and permissions' and the 'Regulation on carrying out an auction for the use of radio frequency spectrum and/or numbering resource'..." GNCC notes in their annual report for 2005 that secondary trading of frequencies is allowed.
• "Probably due to the liberal telecommunication regulation and tradition of having free mass media Georgian state has expressed little interest in controlling the Internet so far. There has been no real effort to pass legislation to set a stage for regulation of Internet and online communication..."---"Internet in Georgia: No revolution needed" by Sandro Karumidze, presented at the OSCE Conference on Guaranteeing Media Freedom on the Internet, Amsterdam, 27-28 August 2004.
• "Wireless Internet Survey for Wi-Fi Technology, Georgia," US Embassy cable, 5 June 2003.

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