TIRANA (Albania), April 26 (SeeNews) – Albania’s electronic and postal communication authority AKEP said it has ordered the mobile operators in the country to switch to 30-day pre-paid monthly bundles after it found higher costs resulting from ‘abusive and anti-competitive tariffs’ in 28-day bundles.
The operators should start the implementation of the new bundles from June 2018, AKEP said in a statement earlier this week.
The change aims to protect the rights of users and ensure free and effective competition in the electronic communications sector, AKEP added.
Vodafone is the biggest telecommunications operator in Albania, followed by Telekom Albania and Albtelecom.
A fourth operator, Plus Communication, earlier demanded the transfer of its frequencies to its peers, saying it is facing financial difficulties which make it impossible for the company to continue offering services. Under an agreement made public by the competition authority in November 2017, Vodafone and Telekom operate 50% of the frequencies of their troubled peer Plus Communications.
Albania’s telecommunications industry generates around 40 billion leks ($376 million/308 million euro) of revenue, or about 3% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
(1 euro = 128.101 leks)