The Republic of North Macedonia, as a candidate country for membership in the EU, has an obligation to harmonize its national policies for the development of electronic communications with EU policies. In this context, the obligation arises to adopt a National Operational Broadband Plan (NOBP), which will be aligned with the strategic objectives of the EU’s Digital Agenda for Europe initiative, as an overarching strategy for the development of the information society since 2010, and the EU strategy Towards a European Gigabit Society for 2025 from 2016.
Furthermore, in the preparation of the National Operational Broadband Plan, consideration has been given to EU recommendations and regulations for the development of next-generation broadband networks, recommendations on the use of state aid for broadband development, the EU’s 2018 strategy for enlargement with the Western Balkan countries, EU reports on the development of broadband markets, reports from international institutions on the development of electronic communications in the region (World Bank, etc.), as well as reports and experiences of EU Member States in the use of state aid for broadband development, among others.
The National Operational Broadband Plan, as a successor to the National Strategy for the Development of Next-Generation Broadband Internet, defines the national broadband targets to be achieved in the coming period and establishes measures and activities for achieving them.