Citizens of Kosovo will not pay any additional for regulated roaming services within the telecommunications, such as calls and mobile phone messages in all Western Balkan countries, from July 1 this year.
There is less than a month left to finalize the roaming agreement between Kosovo, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, which was requested by the European Union, as a form of facilitation for communications between citizens.
The Ministry of Economy in a written response to the online newspaper Insajderi says that this major idea is intended for the six countries of this part of the Balkans to be able to negotiate with EU countries for the abolition of roaming.
“According to the Agreement signed by the six countries of the Western Balkans, from July 1, the roaming tariffs in mobile communications between our countries should be abolished. The major idea is that then our countries can negotiate with the countries of the European Union for the abolition of roaming “, says Agim Kukaj – director of the Department of ICT in ME.
He adds that the technical and procedural aspects are the responsibility of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Communication (RAEPC) regarding the implementation of the agreement.
The Chairman of the Board of RAEPC, Nazim Rahimi, says that this institution has taken all necessary steps in time and is in constant communication with operators “by providing relevant instructions for the implementation of tariffs in accordance with the signed agreement and decisions issued. by ARKEP ”.
“On June 11, 2021, the Board of RAEPC approved the Regulation on the implementation of fair policy and the methodology for assessing the sustainability of the removal of retail roaming tariffs for the roaming agreement between the countries of the Western Balkans,” he said. he for the editorial office, adding that this has successfully concluded the necessary legislation for the start of the implementation of the second phase, respectively the abolition of roaming tariffs from July 1, 2021.
Rahimi further indicates that upon the abolition of these tariffs, RAEPC has prepared two guidelines to inform consumers about the new regulated roaming tariffs between Kosovo and other Western Balkan countries.
RAEPC also in order to inform consumers about the new regulated roaming tariffs between the Republic of Kosovo and the Western Balkans (WB6), as well as the rights that consumers have, RAEPC has prepared 2 Guidelines: Consumer Guide and the one for the Operators, which are published on the RAEPC website and can be downloaded from the link: http://arkep-rks.org/?cid=1,27“, He concluded.
The first phase of implementation of this agreement started in 2019, where there was a reduction of prices up to 80 percent, while the second phase, or the complete elimination of tariffs, is expected to be implemented on July 1, 2021.
Roaming tariff means telecommunication and service that citizens use in another country, from a center of the mobile telephony operator.
In April 2018, at the first Digital Summit held in Skopje, the reduction of roaming prices between the Balkan countries was announced.
Currently, the prices for roaming services for calls made per minute are around 16 cents and for a message about 05 cents. /Insajderi.com