For a long time, Kosovo mobile telephone consumers have had to put up with a single supplier Vala 900 owned by PTK, the "state" fixed line monopolist, and reached bizarrely via a Monaco code +377. There was only one service: pay as you go, and no international calls or SMSs were possible. This bargain cost 60 Euros for a SIM card, though local calls are not too expensive for foreigners.
This meant all the internationals had to get local mobiles to make local calls, as the roaming charges were horrendous. And sometimes (hush hush) we actually connected to Serbian mobile systems to make outgoing calls, as this was the only way to get a good signal on our international mobiles.
There was going to be a new competitor to inject some life into the mobile market, which is decades behind everywhere else, in a place where a cheap mobile service is essential to get business back on its feet. But the tender for the license was cancelled (for reasons I can't remember and even less understood) and now consultants have to be appointed to advise on the new tender! Clearly competition is some way off.
Now, under new management, PTK's managing director has announced the intention to provide some of the services his customers might need. International SMSs are now available at the same price as local SMSs. The addition of VAT will be absorbed, (a discount of 15%). The SIM card price has now dropped to 15 Euros.
One has to ask whether if all these cost reductions are possible, to whom was the money going before?
Details quoted from Lajm via UNMIK's press translations.
