Roaming tariffs after Brexit and the introduction of 5G connectivity, Minister Rossen Jeliazkov discussed with his Irish counterpart

The impact of Brexit on roaming tariffs was discussed at a meeting today with Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Rossen Jeliazkov and Seán Kyne TD, Minister of State for Community Development, Natural Resources and Digital Development.

I believe that the right solutions for all will be found, as was done with the bilateral tariff reduction agreements between the operators from the Western Balkan countries, the Bulgarian minister said. He recalled that if Britain left the European Union without agreement, the prices of services would be subject to free trade negotiation.

"The Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications has already sent a formal letter asking our operators how they plan to act as roaming tariffs are one of the main priorities for us as a member of the Union," Rossen Jeliazkov said.

Bulgaria and Ireland will co-operate in the coordinated introduction of 5G services. Minister Jeliazkov informed his colleague that Bulgaria is continuing its work on the full release of the radio frequency bands designated for fifth-generation services. In his words, ensuring quality and high-speed connectivity is one of the priorities of IT policy. For his part, Minister Kyne stressed that Bulgaria is one of the EU countries with high-speed internet access.

In this regard, a continuation of the investment in fast Internet infrastructure in remote areas is planned, according to the Bulgarian minister. The Aim is to provide reasonable prices for connecting to the World Wide web of people from remote settlements. Bulgaria also strongly supports the WiFi4EU initiative, which will provide fast and high-quality Wi-Fi connection for citizens and visitors in public spaces throughout Europe, said Minister Jeliazkov. He recalled that in the first competition of the initiative, 43% of Bulgarian municipalities received funding. Among the winning municipalities there are many small settlements in rural areas, which is a great opportunity for local authorities to stimulate the use of high-speed links for access to egovernment services, ehealth, development Of small businesses, said Minister Jeliazkov.