Roaming agreement and tariffs
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TIRANA, July 2- The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) reports that since July 1 the roaming prices throughout the Western Balkans have dropped significantly, where citizens of these countries will be able to call, surf the Internet, send more SMS and pay a lot less for these services. According to the RCC, on average, the prices for outgoing calls have dropped to 65 percent, while for the Internet up to 78 percent, while in some cases these discounts go up to 99 percent.
“The price for outgoing calls in some cases ranges up to 0.08 euros, while the price for internet browsing (data) is reduced to 0.03 euros, depending on the operator. By comparing prices in the region by June 30 and since today, it is noticed that these are the maximum prices set by regulators,” announced RCC.
Prices for June 30 for outgoing calls by Kosovar operators were 1.75 euros per minute, for received calls 0.50 euros, for SMS 0.30 euros, while Internet data prices were 2 euros per MB. Whereas with the latest agreement which started its implementation on July 1, outgoing calls will cost 0.15 euros, or 91 percent less, incoming calls 0.047 euros or 90 percent less, an SMS will cost 0.04 euros or 85 percent, while an internet megabyte will only cost 0.04 euros or decreasing by 98 percent.
At the Second Digital Summit, representatives of the Western Balkan countries have signed the agreement on the abolition of roaming services prices, which is implemented in the framework of telecommunications. In April 2018 at the first Digital Summit held in Skopje, the reduction of the roaming prices among the Balkan countries was announced an European Union requirement as a form of facilitation for communication between citizens.
Kosovo Minister of Economic Development Valdrin Lluka, had announced that the Albanian state has begun implementing the roaming agreement with Kosovo. Also, RCC General Secretary Majlinda Bregu had announced that the implementation of the agreement on the removal of Kosovo-Albania roaming will begin on July 1.
“Albania and Kosovo benefit 85 percent of tariff reductions starting July 1. Ministers have signed an agreement on April 4, and the agreement says that the implementation will begin on July 1. Certainly the implementation will be phase after phase, not everything will happen on July 1, but will continue until the tariffs are 0 for 2021, this is positive news,” said Bregu during an interview.
Last year, the Kosovo Assembly adopted a resolution on the abolition of roaming charges between Kosovo and Albania. The roaming tariffs implies telecommunications and mobile service that citizens receive from their home operator while in another country. However, these tariffs are usually twice the price from what a customer normally pays in his home country. Thus, with this new agreement on roaming prices removals means that citizens don’t have to buy extra pricey credit when traveling to any of the Balkan countries that have signed the agreement.
