Kosovo Telecom wins 4th operator license in Albania

TIRANA, April 23 – Albanian parliament on Thursday granted the fourth license of the mobile operator to a group led by Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo (PTK).
Telecommunications Minister Sokol Olldashi said Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo and a group of Albanian businessmen had offered 7.2 million Euros ($9.3 million) being the best bidder out of the two that took part at the international tender held until February.
“We are opening the mobile phone market to the fourth operator who has offered the lowest prices on the market. Thus, Albania becomes the first country in the Balkans with four GSM licenses,” Olldashi told parliament.
Olldashi rejected claims by the opposition and the press that the tender was not valid, saying the second-placed company, Albania’s Univers P.G. which had offered 5 million Euros, had failed to present adequate documents. He said that the PTK had also offered a significant reduction of the mobile phone prices when it starts operating.
But the parliament approved the deal with only the votes of the ruling Democratic Party after the opposition Socialists had previously boycotted the session.
Kosovo’s PTK might create a network that will bring together the markets of Kosovo and Albania. Landlocked Kosovo, most of whose two million people are ethnic Albanians, declared independence from Serbia last year.
The government declared as a winner the Kosova Telecom for the fourth mobile telephone operator in Albania though a tender held in February was declared invalid as none of the bidders fulfilled the required points. The fourth operator was made known because of the request from the government to add it to parliament’s agenda.
Even though no other company has completely fulfilled the criteria to be considered for the competition, the Albanian government has decided to accept Kosova Telecom’s offer pending a vote by the Albanian parliament.
The consortium of Kosova Telecom and other partners has offered 7.2 million Euros for the license and is expected to further invest in the network.
This is the first case that a Kosovar company will invest out of Kosovo. Kosova Telecom, through its mobile operator “VALA” is the market leader in Kosovo. Kosova Telecom entered into a coalition with some other shareholders for the Albanian tender.
But the move by Tirana’s government was immediately contested by the opposition, saying that it broke the law, also adding it was not wise to make such a tender only a few months ahead of the June 28 parliamentary polls.