Lucic: Telekom Srbija filed a complaint against Pristina's decision; we expect a positive result

In Pristina, Telekom Srbija had filed a complaint against the decision to ban the operation of that company in Kosovo, that is, to delete the company "Mts D.O.O." from the company register, and expected a positive result, the company's general manager Vladimir Lucic announced.

"Banning our Mts in Kosovo and Metohija would mean the grossest violation and practically irreversible annulment of the Brussels Agreement. I am optimistic that our complaint will be accepted, because its rejection would mean a dramatic decision by Pristina, with huge consequences. We certainly would not voluntarily extinguish ourselves on Kosovo and Metohija; they would have to do it by force, which would destabilize the region because 30,000 Serbian families would be left without all forms of communication and their lives would become completely unbearable," Lucic said on TV Happy.

The CEO of Telekom Srbija especially thanked the US Ambassadors and EU representatives for their very correct statements and actions regarding Pristina's attempt to ban the largest Serbian company in Kosovo.

Double-digit growth of Telekom

Lucic emphasized that Telekom Srbija was achieving records in revenue growth, operating profit, and new users this year as well.

"We finished the first six months of 2023 very successfully, revenue growth trends, primarily internet and television, are again extremely good, double-digit, so just as we set records in terms of revenue growth, operating profit, and new users last year, so will we in this year. We are additionally pleased that we are recording this growth both in Serbia and in all subsidiary companies abroad," Lucic said.

According to him, at the same time, Telekom continued to constantly improve the services it provided to its users. The latest example of this, he added, was the introduction of an internet speed of 10 gigabits per second in certain parts of Belgrade, which was a record speed at the level of Europe, and perhaps the world.

This service will initially be available in Belgrade Waterfront, where a large number of companies are present, as well as immigrants from abroad who start their own businesses, and then it will spread to other parts of the city.

According to Lucic, Telekom Srbija is the most prepared company for 5G technology in the entire region.

"I can say with certainty that in Serbia, but also in the entire region, we will be by far the most ready to welcome the start of the 5G network. In terms of the number of base stations for 4G that we have implemented so far, we are by far the best compared to the competition and now we will only adapt them for 5G, which is technically very simple. As soon as 5G starts, we will start with the first digital services adapted to that network, for which we are preparing extensively, and our exclusive partner is Vodafone, which is the global leader in the introduction of innovative digital technologies. Among other things, this will make possible the introduction of driverless cars, as well as many services in medicine, in factories, in science," Lucic explained.

He also added that Telekom Srbija was expanding its cooperation with the European Investment Bank, as well as that the first major reduction in roaming prices with the EU would soon begin.

"The especially good news is that we are now even extending the contract with the EIB, despite all the lobbying attempts of our competitors to terminate that contract, so the EU bank will invest in some more digital projects of Telekom and we are finalizing that work in this period,” Lucic emphasized.

"Cooperation with the EIB is an example of the great trust that the world's largest financial institutions have in Telekom Srbija, in the company's financial stability and development strategy. In cooperation with the European Commission, we are moving towards a phased complete abolition of roaming with the EU by 2027, and the first big reduction comes in this quarter, and the focus is on significantly cheaper internet data transmission because that is what people need most when they are abroad, for example on summer vacation so that they don't have to search for "Wi-Fi" on the beach, but to have financially extremely favorable internet on their mobile phone," the head of Telekom Srbija, Vladimir Lucic explained.