The electronic communications market in Montenegro continued to develop intensively last year, contributing to a stable and predictable regulatory framework, as stated by the Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (EKIP).
- The largest electronic communications operators continued to invest in network development, which is the basis for providing modern, quality, and secure services. All major operators have migrated their electronic communication networks to the so-called All-IP environment, enabling them to provide voice, data transmission, and audio-visual media content distribution services over a unified IP network – said EKIP.
They mentioned that operators invested 650 million euros in the last ten years.
- The ratio of total investments by operators to the total sector revenues in the last ten years averages over 28%, which is extremely high, considering that this ratio in the EU is around 13% +, said EKIP.
They added that they currently do not have precise data on operators’ investments in the previous year, and the plans were around 65 million euros.
- Given the need for further development of 4G networks and accelerated development of 5G networks, new investments are expected. Therefore, based on data obtained from operators, the estimate is that the investment amount in the electronic communications sector this year will be 44 million euros – stated EKIP.
The long-term trend of high investments in the electronic communications sector confirms, as they stated, the fact that Montenegro has a stable and predictable legal and regulatory framework, creating equal conditions for all market participants.
Surveys show that the general level of user satisfaction with the quality of electronic communication services ranges from 85.2 to 87.9%, while the level of user satisfaction with prices ranges from 67.7 to 77.1%, depending on the type of service.
- Thus, these statistical indicators also indicate the continuous development of technologies, geographical and economic accessibility of the most modern services, and their use by citizens – said EKIP.
They also reminded that last year, the spectrum auction was successfully completed, allocating radio frequency resources from the 700 MHz and 3.6 GHz ranges to existing mobile operators, recognized as pioneering 5G ranges.