Telenor Serbia talks to SBB for cable alternative
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: For the leasing of cable network to offer fixed telephony services, Telenor Serbia has started negotiations with local cableco Serbia Broadband (SBB). Country’s regulator RATEL proposed a deal between Telenor and SBB because the talks between Telenor and fixed line incumbent Telekom Srbije over access to its network has stalled.
SBB is the leading provider of cable TV services in Serbia besides being the operator of the pan-regional platform Total TV. The network of SBB reaches some 700,000 homes and it is technically capable of offering fixed line telephony services for five years.
However, it does not have a license to do so.
Telekom Srbije plans to invest USD273m in infrastructure (Serbia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An investment of RSD20 billion (USD273 million) will be made by Serbian telecomms company Telekom Srbije in infrastructure development this year.
According to the firm’s commercial director Vladimir Lucic, Telekom Srbije ended 2009 with record profits of RSD15 billion while 2010 started very successful for the company and in January it reached six million mobile users and in fixed line it has three million users. The company’s plan is to have 6.2 million mobile users by the end of the year and the reason why it need to invest more, and it has planned to invest RSD20 billion in infrastructures.
Telekom Srbije is also contemplating to increase the number of internet users to 700,000.
Telekom sell off to be reviewed by IMF (Serbia)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The business plans of Serbia’s ten largest public companies that may be sold; including Telekom Srbije will be reviewed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to Bogdan Lissovolik, the IMF’s top official in Serbia, the market is not strong for privatizations, but case-by-case studies may need to be done for the times when conditions improve.
EUR3 billion (USD4.1 billion) was received by Serbia from IMF for bailout and after agreeing to overhaul pensions, health care and public administration while keeping retirement pay and wages frozen in 2010, it received USD1.6 billion.
The deadline for cutting state jobs and pledge to start them in April has already been missed by the government.
Telekom Srpske customers gain free mobile roaming in Serbia and Montenegro
Predrag Culibrk, Telekom Srpske’s newly installed director general, has announced that his company’s mobile customers will enjoy free mobile roaming in Serbia and Montenegro from 1 July 2007. Telekom Srbije, the Serbian fixed line incumbent, acquired a 65% in Telekom Srpske earlier this year.
