BULGARIA TO SAVE MILLIONS OF LEVA AS A RESULT OF THE INTRODUCTION OF A UNIFIED E-COMMUNICATION NETWORK FOR THE STATE ADMINISTRATION IN 2013

Some of the top priorities set by the Bulgarian GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) government until 2013 refer to the integration of e-communication networks of the administration, as a result of which Bulgaria is expected to save millions of leva from the state budget, stated Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications, Parvan Rusinov during the Telecommunications Infrastructure Roundtable. He also announced that next year a total of BGN 40 mln will be invested for the purpose of providing high-quality telecommunications services in rural areas. In practice, the National Electronic Communications network (ECN) and the NAMDA system (National ATM Network of the Public Administration, connecting overall 10 district towns), as well as a part of the network remaining after the privatisation of BTC (Bulgarian Telecommunications Company) and the networks of the Ministry of Finance, of the Bulgarian National Audit Office, of the Registry Agency, of the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Agency must be merged with the communication networks of the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications (SAITC). It turned out that the different networks often overlap and reach the same government institutions via different routes.

Currently, Bulgaria operates around 6 or 7 different incompatible or unlinked telecommunications networks, commented Peter Statev, Chairman of the Managing Board of the Bulgarian ICT Cluster. He stressed that there was no centralised management of telecommunications infrastructure and the lack of broadband access to many districts indicated the discrepancy in digital communications services provided to our society.


Every government which has been in power over the last 15 years has set itself the objective of establishing the National Information and Communications System, emphasised Boyko Simitchiev, Vice-Chairman of the Managing Board of the Communication and Information Specialists Association (C&ISA). According to the estimates of the Association, over the last 18 years, around €1 bn were spent for communications and information technologies in Bulgaria, while only 20-25% efficiency was reported as a result of the operation of the departmental e-communication systems.