Balkan Mobile Users Roam Freely – Unless They’re in Kosovo

Western Balkan Ministers for Telecommunications signing the agreement in Belgrade to gradually remove all roaming costs in the region. Photo: Information Society Ministry of North Macedonia.

Coverage limited in northern Kosovo

All telecoms operators from Serbia told BIRN that the implementation of the roam-like-at-home agreement functions in Kosovo similarly to the way it does in other countries. 

Usage rises after roaming deal begins

The Western Balkans Roaming Report by the Regional Cooperation Council, RCC analysed international roaming services in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia in 2021. It revealed that roaming users in the Western Balkans made outgoing calls lasting about eight times longer within the Western Balkans region compared to when they were the European Economic Area, EEA. Western Balkans users also consumed approximately seven times more data services within the region than while roaming within the EEA.

The report highlighted the countries with the highest inbound and outbound roaming usage and the differences in wholesale revenues and costs between EEA and Western Balkans operators. While EEA operators had higher average wholesale revenues per unit, the gap was narrower for SMS and data services due to high international mobile termination rates.

The implementation of the roam-like-at-home initiative on July 1, 2021 resulted in a significant increase in average consumption per Western Balkans user while roaming, highlighting the price sensitivity of Western Balkans roamers. 

Voice call duration and data consumption per user experienced substantial growth in the second half of 2021, except for Montenegro. Increases ranged from 45 per cent in...