30. 08. 2008

MONOPOLE ON SERBIAN INTERNET MARKET

Belgrade, August 30, 2008 (Blic) – The president of the executive board of the Republic Agency for Telecommunications (RATEL), Jovan Radunović, claimed that the Internet in Serbia was expensive because only two companies sold Internet access to providers at hight prices.

“The fact that Serbia has approximately 170 Internet operators leads to the wrong conclusion that the market is competitive”, said Radunović in an interview to the „Beta“ agency. Radunović added that „Telecom“ prices were several times higher than in the neighboring countries, whereas the other operator, „Verat“, had only a small market share. He announced that the problem would be solved when the regulation on international connection was passed, which would allow operators to directly connect to foreign networks and offer their Internet services to other users and providers likewise.

Nine operators with good infrastructure were interested, and the passing of the regualtion and its implementation were expected this year, he said.

How ADSL price dropped

Operators had complained about „Telecom’s“ high Internet prices, so RATEL, stated Radunović, suggested that „Telecom“ ought to lower them. „Telecom“ did not do that, but gave the operators double capacity for the same price, which, claimed Radunović, lead to the decrease of Internet prices, primarily ADSL, but unfortunately, still insufficiently.