Western Balkans can expect lower roaming only in 3-4 yrs ⋆ Alertify

Western Balkans can expect lower roaming only in 3-4 yrs

The EU Commissioner for the Digital Society, Mariya Gabriel, expects that roaming fees for the Western Balkans will be reduced in 3-4 years and be fully abolished when countries from the region become full EU members.

“We would like to achieve concrete results for three or four years, and the EU needed 10 years to talk and agree on this topic.” When countries in the region become EU members, there will be no need for special roaming prices at this time. “Gabriel said at a press conference in Belgrade.

READ MORE: EC launches Digital Agenda for Western Balkans

According to her, the price of an MB when roaming will be EUR 0.70 in 2019 and EUR 0.20 in 2021. Gabriel added that it will soon be known when and how much the reduction will be for SMS and call prices.

“We believe in the readiness of the countries in the region to move forward,” said Gabriel, adding that soon there will be a clear timetable when and how much the cost of SMS messages and calls will be reduced.

At the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK) of Macedonia, a working meeting of representatives of the regulatory bodies for electronic communications of Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro was held.

Special considerations are given to the results of roaming services so far, as well as the next steps that will be taken to reduce roaming prices and international calls. The current activities of regulatory bodies from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia have contributed to the drop in roaming prices for calls by 83.5 percent, SMS messages by 70 percent, and for the Internet by 94.4 percent since 2014. Western Balkans lower roaming