Doing Business in Kosovo - US Department of State

Telecommunications
Overview Return to top
Although political and technical issues exist, Kosovo’s telecommunications sector is very
attractive for international and U.S. firms due to: 85 percent landline market penetration rate
(access to customer base), weak mobile phone saturation (opportunities to grow base), and
relatively high calling rates. The telecom sector is dominated by the publicly-owned enterprise
Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo (PTK), which has a monopoly on landline services.
Latest Telecommunications Regulatory Authority report shows 137.000 internet users with 46%
household penetration. There are three main providers, IPKO, PTK and Kujtesa covering over
95% of Kosovo’s internet market. PTK offers mobile telephony through its subsidiary VALA
(1,000,000+ customers, which equates to 68% of the overall market). PTK offers mobile
telephony through its subsidiary VALA (1,000,000+ customers, which equates to 68% of the
overall market). Kosovo’s telecommunications sector is one of the least expensive in the region
and comparatively has the same quality of services with providers in the region. However due
to non-consolidation of the market it doesn’t have a large diversity of products but has made
large improvements in minimizing dropped calls and widening coverage area. In order to
compete with other service providers, VALA has upgraded its network, striving to provide higher
quality and more reliable service. In October of 2009 Vala issued another 200,000 numbers with
a new prefix 045 instead of 044, reaching 1,000,000 clients. Mobile telephony penetration on
Kosovo is 87%, covering over 99% of inhabited places and 85% of Kosovo’s territory.
Mobtel, a Serbian company specializing in services aimed at the Kosovo Serb community, does
not have a license to operate in Kosovo. When Mobtel was purchased in 2006 by the Norwegian
company Telenor, Mobtel voluntarily ceased operations in most parts of Kosovo, but Telenor
continues to provide service illegally in some minority Serb areas of the country. It is estimated
that more than 200,000 people are using the services of unlicensed providers like Telenor,
including service that encroaches into Kosovo’s territory from Macedonia and Montenegro.
Slovenija Telekom, a Slovenian state-owned company partnering with local firm IPKONET, won
the tender for a second mobile phone operator issued in 2006. The tendering process was
marred by allegations of irregularities, but IPKONET started operations in January 2008. By the
beginning of 2009, both IPKONET and PTK separately reached agreement with Mobile Virtual
Network Operators (MVNO) to brand their products in Kosovo. “D3” mobile was launched in
December 2008 using IPKONET’s infrastructure, and “Z-Mobile” with PTK in December 2009.
Without United Nations membership, Kosovo is unable to obtain its own country code from the
International Telecommunication Union. As a result, Kosovo continues to use Serbia’s country
code (381) for international landline calls, while VALA rents Monaco’s country code (377) at
considerable extra costs. IPKONET uses Slovenia’s country code (386), also resulting in higher
tariffs for end users.
Sub-Sector Best Prospects Return to top
General service mobile (GSM) operator
GSM network supplies, equipment and technology