New GSM Network for Albania

TIRANA, March 14 – A third GSM network operator was launched in Albania last week with Eagle Mobile becoming the third mobile phone operator in Albania. Eagle Mobile, a joint venture between Turkish Calik Holding, Turkish Telecom and the Albanian State, initially is offering service in Tirana and Durres, the territory between the two cities and Tirana International Airport.
Plans are to extend coverage to the entire country by early summer. The company says that it now covers about half the country’s population, using infrastructure supplied by Huawei and Amdocs.
Ninety-three percent of Eagle Mobile employees are Albanian, and the company plans to create work for more than 1000 Albanians.
The country currently has two mobile operators, Vodafone and AMC. According to figures from Mobile World, the country ended last September with some 2.2 million subscribers, representing a market penetration level of 61 percent.
Eagle Mobile says it will offer “attractive, appropriate and pleasant tariffs.”
Last year, AMC and Vodafone were fined 3.76 million Euros for overcharging consumers.
Albania is a parliamentary democracy that is transforming its economy into a market-oriented system. The Albanian capital, Tirana, is home to 750,000 of the country’s 3.6 million population. As a result of the opening of the country in the post-communist era, Albania is now undergoing a development boom as its telecommunications, transport and utilities infrastructure is being revamped.