The Belgrade-based MSO Serbia Broadband (SBB) has applied for a permit to provide wholesale internet services and expects to receive approval from the Telecommunication Agency (RATEL) within three weeks, according to SBB General Manager Dragan Solak.
The move is in line with a set of rules recently put in place by RATEL, which Telecommunications and Information Society Minister, Jasna Matic, said would end the state telecom company Telekom Srbija’s monopoly on providing broadband network access to ISPs and reduce retail prices in the sector by about 30%.
The liberalization of the wholesale internet market will improve quality, reduce prices and allow end-users to buy higher speeds, Solak said.
Currently, Telekom Srbija and the privately owned ISP Verat are the sole providers of wholesale internet services in Serbia.