February 29 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's telecommunications operators plan to invest 68 million euro ($73.5 million) in networks and services this year, the country's telecommunications regulator, EKIP, said.
The operators also plan to invest 55 million euro in 2025 and some 48 million euro in 2026.
Last year, the three mobile operators in the country - M:tel, part of Telekom Srbija, Crnogorski Telekom, controlled by Croatia's Hrvatski Telekom, and One Crna Gora, part of Hungary's 4iG - invested 76.3 million euro in total, up by 10.8% compared to 2022, EKIP said in a statement on Wednesday.
The 2023 amount does not include 8.84 million euro of licence fees paid to the state budget by the three companies for the use of the radio frequency spectrum, according to the statement.
In the past decade, telecommunications companies operating in the country have invested more than 730 million euro, with 2016 marking the highest recorded year, with investments totaling over 116 million euro.
The number of mobile phone subscribers in Montenegro, a country of some 630,000 people, increased 3.1% year-on-year to 1,312,960 at the end of 2023, EKIP said last month. The mobile penetration rate, however, dropped to 211.76% in December from 220% at the end of November, when the number of subscribers was 1,364,047.
At the end of 2023, M:tel had a 36.7% share of the mobile phone market, followed by Crnogorski Telekom with 36.4% and One with 26.9%.
($ = 0.925 euro)