Georgian ISP Caucasus Online and former monopoly telco United Telecom are currently in disagreement regarding work to repair and upgrade telephone cables. United Telecom, which owns and operates Georgia’s PSTN, is protesting at Caucasus Online’s decision to carry out repair work and putting new cables into trenches owned by United. The telco has said that certain procedures, which it says must be followed before carrying out any work in the cable wells, have been disregarded by Caucasus Online, and it therefore considers the ISP guilty of vandalism. Caucasus Online president Mamia Sanadiradze responded by saying that United Telecom did not allow his company to repair damaged cables and therefore restore connections to its customers. Caucasus Online is dominant in the Georgian internet market, with over 90% of all subscriptions, but with little network of its own, it is dependent on connections via the PSTN.
United Telecom has said that besides Caucasus Online, other unidentified companies are also performing illegal cabling works on its infrastructure, and it intends to remove the repaired cables soon.