Roaming not to be abolished before the summer of 2021

The abolition of roaming charges in the Western Balkans is not only an economic question, but a political one as well. There's been an initiative to sign an agreement for the countries of the Western Balkans on the abolition of these charges for a long time now, but for the time being, the agreement is most likely to be signed by Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, which reached an agreement on the lowering of the price of roaming several years ago.

Albania and Kosovo wanted to joint the agreement, and external pressures to do so have now grown.

– Next April, a summit will be held in Belgrade, and the European Commission expects the agreement on the abolition of roaming for the Western Balkans to be signed then – Minister of Telecommunications of Serbia Rasim Ljajic told Novosti.

There's already an agreement between the said four countries, but a Western Balkans agreement should include Albania and Kosovo. This is certainly a political question related to the status of Kosovo. One option is for the said four countries to sign the agreement alone, which would allow for the abolition of roaming charges in the summer of 2021.

According to Minister Ljajic, adjustments and preparation will take two years. For these four countries, everything could be done relatively quickly, but the question of others is politically controversial.

Still, local operators are not too keen to have roaming charges abolished, as it is clear that they earn a lot from them.

There used to be an initiative to fully abolish roaming charges in the Western Balkans, that is, to have those countries join the pertinent EU directive. This fell through, however.

Outgoing calls cost RSD 28

The average price of outgoing calls in Macedonia, Montenegro and B&H is RSD 27.99 per minute. Incoming calls cost RSD 7.39 per minute, whereas text messages cost RSD 8.89. In the EU, the average price of outgoing calls is RSD 49.90, and it costs RSD 79.90 to establish the connection. Incoming calls cost RSD 9.90, establishing the connection costs RSD 39.90, and text messages cost RSD 29.90.

Ministarstvo turizma i omladine Republike Srbije

roaming in Serbia

mobile data in roaming

internet in roaming

roaming

Western Balkans

abolition of roaming

mobile internet

price of roaming

Rasim Ljajic