TIRANA, April 30 – Albania’s mobile phone operators suffered a double-digit income decline in 2017 in an ongoing downward trend since almost a decade triggered by tougher competition and smartphone apps replacing traditional phone calls and text messages.
An annual report by the country’s electronic communications authority, AKEP, shows the country’s four mobile operators saw their revenue drop by an annual 12 percent to 29.7 billion lek (€230 mln) in 2017, the lowest level since 2003 when only two mobile operators were offering their services in Albania.
The 2017 situation was mainly a result of a sharp 44 percent decline in incoming international phone calls, leading to a 3.4 billion lek (€26.3 mln) drop in annual income.
Incoming phone calls mainly from Italy and Greece, the hosts of about 1 million Albanian migrants, are estimated to have dropped by four times compared to 2013. The electronic communications watchdog says the situation is a result of the replacement of international calls with over-the-top apps and higher fees some EU operators have been charging on calls originating from non-EU member states such as Albania.
The market started slightly shrinking in terms of revenue in 2009 after the successful launch of the third operator, Turkish-owned Eagle Mobile and Albanian-owned Plus two years later.
Total income for fixed line internet, phone and TV service providers, accounting for 20 percent of the electronic communications market, also dropped by 14 percent in 2017.
The number of active mobile phone users, defined as those who have made or received at least one call or text message in the last three months, rose by about 3 percent to 3.5 million in 2017 in a population of about 2.8 million residents.
Meanwhile, 2 million subscribers, had access to 3G and 4G services at the end of 2017, with a penetration rate of 72 percent, compared to only about 10 percent of the population in 2011 when 3G services were first offered.
In 2017, an active mobile phone subscriber paid an average of 3.12 lek (€0.024)/minute (VAT included) and spend an average of 509 lek (€3.93) a month on mobile services, in slightly higher rates of 3 and 7 percent respectively compared to 2016.
However, AKEP says Albania’s mobile operators’ average income remains one of the region’s lowest and at €36.6, Albania’s average revenue per user is four times lower compared to the EU average.
However, average GDP per capita and consumption in EU aspirant Albania is at about a third of the EU average, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office.
In 2017, an Albanian mobile phone subscriber talked an average of 160 minutes in outgoing phone calls and sent 34 text messages in slightly lower figures compared to 2016, but consumed 2.06 GB, up 38 percent compared to the previous year.
Data shows market operators maintained their market shares in 2017 with UK-based Vodafone leading with a 49 percent share in total income, followed by German-Greek owned Telekom Albania with a 30 percent share, Turkish-owned Albtelecom with a 12 percent share and no-longer operational Albanian-owned Plus Communication with an 8 percent share.
Although with a small market share, the late 2017 exit of Albanian-owned Plus Communication is expected to increase market concentration, leading to lower competition.
The electronic communications watchdog says it is assessing the new market situation in order to undertake measures that stimulate efficient competition and bring sustainable mid-to long-term benefits after two largest operators, Vodafone and Telekom Albania, each acquired 50 percent stakes in Albanian-owned Plus Communication.
The smallest and sole Albanian-owned operator, Plus ceased operations in January 2018, reducing the mobile phone market to three operators and leaving some 206,000 active subscribers with no choice but to switch to either Vodafone, Tekekom Albania or Albtelecom in order to continue having access to mobile phone services.
Plus’s market exit came seven years after launching its operations as the fourth and sole Albanian-owned mobile operator.
Albania’s electronic communications watchdog has recently ordered the country’s mobile operators to switch back to 30-day pre-paid standard bundles starting next June after cutting the packages to 28 days for the past couple of years, increasing consumer costs in practices not applied in regional countries.
