No roaming charges in Western Balkans region in two years’ time
There will be no roaming charges in the Western Balkans in two years’ time, while charges towards the EU will be much lower, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Secretary-General Majlinda Bregu said Tuesday. roaming in western balkans
“This was not given to us, but we worked hard to get here – hard and fast!” Bregu noted in a statement published on the RCC website.
“Less than 3 months ago, the region committed itself to and signed the agreement leading the Western Balkans to the Roaming Free Zone, like the European Union’s Roam Like At Home. Yesterday (when the implementation of the first phase began), it became a reality, meaning our citizens will speak, surf, SMS more and pay less, and in two years’ time there will be no roaming costs when roaming within the region, and much lower costs towards the EU.”
“EU is a magnetic attraction, while regional cooperation is becoming a steady pattern,” Bregu noted.
The Regional Roaming Agreement, formally the “Agreement on the Price Reduction of the Roaming Services in Public Mobile Communications Networks in the Western Balkans region”, regulates the imposition of roaming charges within the countries in the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The agreement covers both the charges mobile network operators can impose on their subscribers for using telephone and data services outside of the network’s member state and the wholesale rates networks can charge each other to allow their subscribers access to each other’s networks.
The agreement came into effect from 1 July 2019, with reduced tariffs. From 1 July 2021, all tariffs should be removed. On average, prices for outgoing calls dropped by 65% and prices for data transfer dropped by 78%.
