Albania Telecoms

Since July 1, 2021, all subscribers of the mobile networks of the Republic of Albania traveling to other countries of the Western Balkans (Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia), will enjoy the right to use all roaming mobile services regulated in these BP countries as if they were in Albania, ie without additional roaming fees / costs.

This charging model for mobile network subscribers using roaming service is known as Roam Like At Home (RLAH), and will be applicable from 1.7.2021 for all mobile subscribers, prepaid and postpaid (or a combination of payment methods ), who use offers or not (ie, prepaid users who use only top-ups and are charged on the basis of consumed units and valid credit – Pay As You Go (PAYG)), subscribers with active packages or not, ie who have remaining service units or not.

In accordance with the RLAH model, all mobile subscribers will be charged for all mobile services consumed while roaming in BP according to the respective tariffs / charging mechanism (PAYG / prepaid and postpaid package, etc.) applied in Albania for mobile services, as: outgoing calls, incoming calls (0 ALL), outgoing SMS (incoming SMS 0 ALL), and Internet (according to the fair use policy – FUP). Subscribers who use prepaid or prepaid packages / offers will have the opportunity to use the unit of services included in the fixed periodic (monthly) payment or prepaid offers (daily / weekly, 30-day, etc.) while roaming in BP, as well as to be in Albania, therefore, without additional tariffs or the need to purchase additional roaming offers in BP.

To avoid possible abuses with this new charging system (as in Albania or without additional tariffs or zero extra tariff for roaming services in BP), which would harm not only mobile operators, but also users (citizens / businesses) of services roaming in BP, these benefits are accompanied at the same time and by several rules of fair use (FUP) of these services. These rules of fair use include the right of the mobile operator to apply additional roaming tariffs in case of evidence of abuse or abnormal use of roaming services, and exceeding the allowed amount of internet roaming in BP, according to the usage policy right.

More detailed information on Fair Usage Policies (FUP) policies and the notification and application of these additional roaming charges in the cases cited can be found on the website of each mobile operator. These rules of FUP of mobile operators must be in accordance with the definitions of acts approved by AKEP with Decision no.9, dated 9.6.2019, on “Approval of the document” Regulation on the implementation of fair use policy and evaluation methodology the sustainability of the abolition of retail roaming tariffs (RLAH) with the Western Balkans ”and additional documents”.

The abolition of retail roaming tariffs (RLAH) from 1.7.2021 was made possible by the implementation of the “Agreement on Price Reduction of Roaming Services in Public Mobile Communication Networks in the Western Balkans Region”, signed on April 4 in Belgrade by the ministries responsible for electronic communications of the six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia).

The signing of the agreement and its implementation were achieved thanks to the regional cooperation of the policy-making bodies and the regulatory authorities of BP with the EC and the RCC. The start of the abolition of roaming tariffs in BP is an important milestone in EU integration and especially in the benefits of BP citizens from mobile services.