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vironmentally sound alternative for household heating and improve the efficiencyin using primary energy resources. The investment priorities of BulgargasCompany will continue to be directed towards extension of the gas transmissioncapacity to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia.Heat SupplyIn view of the fact that district heating represents the most cost-effective existingalternative for heating, attracting investments for the sector is a prioritytask. First priority is given to investments in the transmission and distribution bymeans of which a reduction in costs and, respectively, in end-user prices couldbe achieved. Other possibilities are rehabilitation of existing capacities and constructionof new ones.Privatization is another powerful instrument for attracting investments in theenergy sector. A precondition to achieve that positive effect is finding maximumbalance in the privatization scheme of the energy companies.5.7 Information and Communication TechnologiesThe communication sector in Bulgaria has developed rapidly in the recent years.In 2006 the number of the mobile network subscribers exceeds 6 million, thereare three GSM operators.In the area of the mobile telecommunications, the third generation UMTS mobilecellular network is under development. The first tenders for UMTS mobilecellular network operation took place in 2005 and in 2006 the communicationsystem is offered in five major towns in Bulgaria. It is expected that in near futurethe three GSM operators in Bulgaria will extend their UMTS mobile cellularnetwork.In 2006, the Internet users reached 1.2 million, what represents 28% of thepopulation living in the cities, 35% of the internet users are companies.The e-commerce development is encouraged by the self-regulation and practicalimplementation of the electronic signature. The Internet-accessible virtualshops have been recently established in country. The opportunity to make businesstransactions on the Internet is already also available through different environmentsystems. There are nearly 1,100 companies operating in the sphereof IT. More than half of them are small size companies. The advanced level ofeducation ensured by the science and technology faculties in the Bulgarian universitieshas created scientists with leading position worldwide who work successfullyfor the development of science-based technologies in communicationsand high technologies. Favourable factor for IT development is tradition in suchwww.sme.government.bg 19