By ERVIN LISAKU
TIRANA, May 5 – The number of internet users in Albania has been rapidly growing during the past decade, with penetration now estimated at 20.6 percent of the population, some 750,000 users, but service offered by providers leave much to be desired considering the high fees they charge. The number of internet users ten years ago was only 0.1 percent of the population, according www.internetworldstats.com.
By 2006 the penetration used to be extremely low, having reached just 2.5%. However, since 2007 the situation has been changing considerably, with over 15% of subscribers seen that year.
Albania still lags behind compared to its neighbours regarding internet users. Data show Kosovo’s penetration rate is 20.9 percent of the total population, Macedonia’s 43.0 percent and Montenegro with 43.7 percent,
The key trend dominating the Albanian telecommunications market, as well as across the Balkan region, is broadband connection: fixed, wireless and mobile mostly. Meanwhile, such new technologies, like xDSL, have also started working up the national market, according to the Ecommerce Journal.
Experts say the further spread of internet is being prevented by high access fees which start from 10 euros a month for home internet users to 140 euros for businesses.
Surveys show people aged under 30 make up the biggest number of internet users with 80 percent.
Rapid economic recovery has encouraged successful internet and related technologies deployment but Albania is still tackling its digital divide problem from the roots up by encouraging more ICT use in schools across the country, said Ecommerce Journal. With the support of the United Nations, the Albanian Ministry of Education and Science is putting together plans for a new e-school programme giving primary and secondary students in Albania much-needed internet and IT skills and knowledge.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha has said government’s goal in the next three years was to increase internet usage by another 15 percent of the population.
According to Berisha, the internet usage indicator has currently increased to 32 percent of the population, up from 4.8 percent in 2005.
Internet market
According to the Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications (AKEP), some 90 companies offered internet access services until the end of 2009. The broadband internet service continued its growth even in 2009 with an increase in offers and reduction of tariffs, and the number of subscribers reaching 80,000 or 10 percent of families. The number of business subscribers was 8,000.
AKEP says the number of broadband lines per 100 inhabitants is 2.5.
The main technology is ADSL with fixed line operator Albtelecom as the main provider. The Authority said the Turkish-owned company was very active in internet access services last year, making investments in the local network to offer broadband service through ADSL by reducing tariffs.
The number of broadband subscribers through Albtelecom’s ADSL reached 52,000 at the end of 2009 (48,000 household subscribers and 4,000 businesses) registering a considerable increase compared to July 2008 when their number was only 1,400.
A considerable increase was also registered for alternative operators offering faster broadband internet through their infrastructure, with ADSL2+ technology, optical fibers and dedicated lines.
The number of broadband subscribers for alternative operators until the end of 2009 was 20,000, according to AKEP data.
The speed of broadband internet varies from 256 kbps to 3 Mbps and even higher for business users who have access through dedicated lines or optical fibers.
Even the three mobile operators, AMC, Vodafone and Eagle mobile were very active in offering internet services through mobile phones and PC cards offering considerable tariff reduction for pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.
The number of pre-paid and postpaid subscribers having internet access on their mobiles at the end of 2009 was 785,000 while those having access through wireless internet cards for laptops was 4,000.
Meanwhile, Dial Up internet access offered by Albtelecom has registered a sharp decrease because of broadband use. Dial up subscribers at the end of 2009 fell to 14,000 down from 25,000 in the previous year.
Alternative operators
The biggest Internet Service Provider company in Albania that was the first to enter the market is Abissnet. It was established in 1998 and is currently leading the market.
The other leader on the national Internet market is Albania Online Internet Services Provider, that represents the fastest and most reliable infrastructure in Albania.
The other main Albanian ISPs are Abcom which delivers a wide variety of Internet services, including dial-up, ADSL, DSL, Cable Internet, Wireless, Wi-Fi, Hosting, VPN, Prepaid calling and Internet cards.
Primo Communications is another company which is growing fast. The company, part of Telekom Slovenia, was established in 2007 after the merging of four telecommunications companies including Albanian Online service and Albanian Fiber Backbone sh.p.k. (AFB).
ADANet is an ISP that in difference to any other operator in Albania gives to its dial-up customers a real IP address.
Interalb represents an Albanian InterCommunication Company that offers internet and VoIP services.
Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Albania is .al, administered by the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority of Albania (AKEP).
Current second level domains in use are:
ՠ.com.al for enterprises & commercial organizations
ծedu.al for academic and R&D institutions
ՠ.gov.al for government institutions
ՠ.mil.al for military organizations
ՠ.net.al for organizations dedicated on networking
ՠ.org.al for non-government organizations
3G technology
Albanian internet users will be able to surf the web using the 3G technology within this year, the Electronic and Postal Communications Authority said after closing public consultations with interested companies last month.
According to the Authority, the launch of 3G, which refers to the third generation of mobile telephony technology, is necessary to further develop information technology and wireless internet in Albania.
Companies authorized to provide the service must be able to provide the service by the end of this year. The Electronic Communications Authority says there are capacities to grant four licences on the use of the 3G technology but the final decision on the number of licenses and price for the use of frequencies will be taken by government.
The Authority expects the licenses will be granted within next autumn and service offered at the end of this year.
The launch of the 3G technology is expected to be made soon after the fourth mobile operator PLUS starts operations next July.
Internet cafes
Internet cafes are the most common place for people who don’t have access at their homes. The internet caf顢usiness has been booming in recent years especially in student campuses, like Qyteti Studenti in Tirana but in all cities and towns.
