MONTENEGRO
Telecom
through privatisation were given chances to work in new companies, and opportunities for new investment in Montenegro’s telecom sector have been increased significantly,” Zoran Sekulic points out. In 2007, AGENTEL issued licenses for five providers of wireless Internet services.
Mobile penetration now 200% AGENTEL has helped to stimulate the rapid growth of telecom services in Montenegro. The country’s mobile telephone penetration has reached 200%, for example, one of the highest rates in Europe, and Internet penetration is now 42%, a significant increase over the past. “Obviously, telecommunications in Montenegro continue to develop very quickly,” Zoran Sekulic says. AGENTEL continues to support new regulations that bring more market openness and international standards to Montenegro’s telecom sector. New regulations concerning new entries to the market have been established, according to Zoran Sekulic, who explains, “The new provision is that new telecom operators who want to invest in telecommunications in Montenegro just have to notify the agency of their intentions and the agency has to register them. Licenses will only be issued in cases concerning the use of limited resources, such as radio frequencies and numbering.” Recently AGENTEL took on new responsibilities thanks to a new Law on Electronic Communications through which the technical division of Montenegro’s highly respected Broadcasting Agency (BA) was merged with part of AGENTEL to create the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Activity, which will be under government supervision. The BA and AGENTEL have co-operated well in the past.
Outstanding investment potential Montenegro’s telecom sector represents outstanding investment potential, according to Zoran Sekulic. He says that licenses for wireless Internet services and for cable services, particularly for northern Montenegro, offer very interesting prospects for investors. He adds, “We have many valuable resources, and there has been a lot of interest in a tender process for a fourth mobile operator, but we will wait to begin the
tender procedure until we are certain that it will be a complete success.” The first international company to enter Montenegro’s telecom market was Promonte, which has been very satisfied with its results there. “Montenegro’s geographic position and a government willing to improve economic conditions and attract foreign investments, along with Montenegro’s political and security stability, give this country great potential for development. Promonte saw that Montenegro had a real potential, so we went for it,” comments Christopher Laska, Promonte’s CEO.
High potential opportunities in northern Montenegro Projects in northern Montenegro have particularly strong growth potential since the area is less developed than in the southern and central parts of the country, and network coverage remains limited. “The northern part of Montenegro has great prospects for tourism development, but so far this has not occurred. We need to upgrade telecommunications facilities and services in the north part of the country in order to spur on tourism growth there,” Zoran Sekulic says. AGENTEL is playing a key role in promoting Montenegro abroad and in attracting foreign investment. The agency partners with a number of international organisations, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and European organisations, and it is currently sending some of its staff members to International Telecommunications Union (ITU) meetings in order to upgrade the agency’s organisation and activities. “We have also hosted conferences which were attended by the representatives of neighbouring countries and some EU countries. This year’s telecom conference was opened by Hamad Toure, the ITU’s general secretary. Through all these activities, we inform the international business community about the opportunities in Montenegro,” Zoran Sekulic explains.
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