"Experts and government should decide on Telekom's future"

"Experts and government should decide on Telekom's future"

BELGRADE -- Economic experts, telecommunications engineers and the government, as the owner of Telekom Srbija, should determine "the viable options" for the company.

They should also decide whether this public enterprise should be sold, Director of the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL) Milan Jankovic said on Tuesday.

"Telekom Srbija has so far demonstrated great resilience, but the enterprise needs investments in the technological development in order to be able to keep up with the competition in the telecoms market," Jankovic said at a press conference, in reply to questions as to whether Telekom Srbija should be sold.

"Whether all 78 percent of shares that the state holds in Telekom will be sold or less, it will be up to the Serbian government to decide, which will on June 1 get an opinion from the privatization consultant whether this enterprise should be privatized and how," Jankovic said.

If that happens, Telekom's share in Serbia's landline, mobile telephony, Internet markets, and licenses for Telekom Srbija's operations in the markets of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro will also be sold, he noted.