Fic rEcommEndationS - Eurobank EFG

was abandoned in May 2011 due to non-fulfillment of tender
requirements.
A decline of EUR 50 million in telecommunication services
revenues was recorded in 2010 against 2009 and total investments
in telecommunications were reduced by EUR 14
million, which is indicative of the consequences of the crisis
and decrease in market growth.
PoSitiVE dEVELoPmEntS
Owing to the efforts of operators, the line Ministry, RATEL and
to current indicators of the Statistical Office confirming the
country’s recovery from the economic crisis, the Government of
the Republic of Serbia enacted a decision to abolish the tax on
mobile telephone use as of 1 January 2011. Mobile telephony
operators were thus relieved of the tax that had been introduced
due to the impact of the global financial crisis on Serbia.
As a result of joint efforts of operators in the previous two
years, amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction
were adopted in March 2011, stipulating certain conditions
the procedure for obtaining a building permit for antennas is
not required, i.e. provisions of this Law do not apply.
In May 2011 the regulatory body announced public consultations
on the analysis of relevant electronic communications
markets and published the draft decisions on promulgation
of SMP operators 1 and their obligations. This was the
first market analysis in the Republic of Serbia on the model
of EU standards. It is expected that the analysis will be finalised
by the end of this year.
In the same period, a number of rules were enacted aimed
at full enforcement of the Electronic Communications Law.
Certain operators’ fees to RATEL were reduced, but many
utility fees were increased.
The Digital School project was completed in June 2011. The
project equipped 2,910 schools on the territory of the Republic
of Serbia with 30,000 computers. Project implementation
was funded from operators’ fees in 2009.
July 2011 saw the introduction of number portability in
mobile telephony. Thereby the working group, consisting
of representatives of RATEL and operators, in charge of all
preparations for the implementation of the number portability
service in mobile telephony, completed its task.
Telekom Srbija approved a rise in the retail prices of fixed
telephony services, effective as of August 2011. At the same
time, the regulatory body enacted a decision on the reduction
of termination fees in Telekom Srbija’s fixed network
for all calls from other fixed and mobile networks. Both decisions
entered into force on 1 August 2011.
rEmaininG iSSUES
The Action Plan, as an integral part of the Strategy for the
Development of Electronic Communications in the Republic
of Serbia until 2020, is overdue. The Action Plan is a list
of necessary activities that would further concretise institutional
plans and activities in this field and provide higher
predictability to all the market players.
The Electronic Communications Law postponed the full
liberalisation of fixed telephony to 2012. The unsuccessful
sale of Telekom, the small market share of Orion and waiting
for Telenor to start providing fixed telephony services
are the main characteristics of the fixed telephony market
at this moment. Given the unsuccessful sale of Telekom, the
strong influence of the state on the developments in the
electronic communications field is expected to continue.
The introduction of number portability in fixed telephony
should also be implemented successfully.
Establishing the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, Media
and Information Society over all activities in the telecommunications
field is proceeding slowly. Full jurisdiction
of the Ministry over the activities in the electronic communications
field should be established to enable growth of
the electronic communications market and strengthen RA-
TEL’s capacities to implement EU regulations.
It is necessary to improve cooperation and coordination on
the preparation of bills and by-laws between the line ministry
and other state institutions relevant for the telecommunications
field, particularly in the area of construction,
environment, consumer protection, introduction of various
types of taxes and fees.
1 22 Operators with Significant Market Power.
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