Agreement on telecommunications

Agreement within the framework of technical dialogue
Date of signing: September 8, 2013

Agreement status:
The agreement has been implemented to a large extent

Parties / delegations

Ivica Dacic
Prime Minister of Serbia

Catherine Ashton
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

Hashim Thaci
Prime Minister of Kosovo *

Званичници

Tomislav Nikolic
President of Serbia

Ivica Dacic
Prime Minister of Serbia

Atifete Jahjaga
President of Kosovo *

Hashim Thaci
Prime Minister of Kosovo *

Background:

Telecommunication was one of the first issues discussed during the technical dialogue commenced in 2011, with the EU mediation. After two years of negotiations, in September 2013, an agreement was reached that enabled Kosovo to get an international country code (+383), but also brought about regulation of non-licensed operators’ work (Vip, Telekom Srbija and Telenor) in the territories populated predominantly by the Serb community.

Before this agreement, Serbian operators had been performing their activities in Kosovo without a license, along with licensed Kosovar operators, thus creating two parallel telecommunication systems. Besides, Kosovo did not have its country code, so three codes were used instead (Monaco’s +377, Slovenia’s +386 and Serbia’s +381).

Such a situation caused the treatment of certain codes as national, others as international, depending on the company operating in the given area. By the same token, citizens normally used two telephones – one for communication with persons in Serbia and the other for communication in Kosovo.

On 25 August 2015, an action plan was approved for the area of telecommunication, envisaging the sole responsibility of Kosovo for the implementation of the country code, following the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) granting a three-digit code.

On 26 January 2016, Austria applied for country code on behalf of Kosovo and in December 2016 ITU granted Kosovo a code (+383) and included Kosovo in online telecommunication registers.

The agreement envisaged regulation of non-licensed Serbian operators in Kosovo as well.

In order to ensure communication in certain areas, Kosovo agreed to issue a temporary license for mobile telephony and a permanent one for landline telephony to the MTS d.o.o. (limited liability) company as branch of Telekom Srbija. This temporary license expires by the issuance of new, unlimited license for mobile telephony, which shall result from a tendering procedure conducted in accordance with the EU standards.

In April 2020, the Regional Group for Continental Europe (one of the five synchronized ENTSO-E zones) voted for a new agreement on connecting KOSTT to ENTSO-E.

Two months later, on 30 June 2020, KOSTT signed an agreement with ENTSO-E, whereby Kosovo got its electric energy independence and sovereignty over its power network.

At a meeting held on 1 December 2020, the RGCE (Regional Group for Continental Europe) agreed that the operations of KOSTT as a regulatory area within the Albania-Kosovo regulatory block, i.e. the beginning of implementation of the agreement on connecting KOSTT to ENTSO-E, should commence on 14 December 2020.

The essential points of the agreement

Implemented

The International Telecommunication Union shall grant Kosovo a three-digit country code.

Implemented

The full license for landline telephony services shall be issued to the new company (MTS d.o.o.) as a branch of the Serbian company registered in keeping with Kosovo’s regulatory framework.

Implemented

Kosovar authorities shall issue temporary license for mobile telephony to the new company (MTS d.o.o.) in accordance with Kosovo’s regulatory framework, for the existing services and in accordance with the existing infrastructure on the ground.

Not implemented

The temporary license shall expire when Kosovo’s authorities issue a full, unlimited license for mobile telephony following the results of tendering/auction procedure organized in keeping with the EU standards.

Not implemented

Although postal services were not part of these talks, both parties shall agree in them in a subsequent phase.