New payment plans create price war in Macedonia

November 12, 2015

Following the granting of a licence in March 2015, Vip Macedonia, the Croatian mobile unit of Telekom Austria, launched operations in Macedonia in September. The company paid €10m for the licence and has invested a further €50m in developing its network, services, contact centres and a sales distribution network.

Prior to Vip’s launch, statistics showed that 28% of the population did not use a mobile phone, 56% were T-Mobile subscribers, and 21% had signed on with Cosmofon.

In order to penetrate the market, Vip offered a flat-rate, pre-paid plan, available in more than 2,000 outlets, which undercut the prices already in the marketplace by between 40% and 60%. The company has now added a post-paid option, also geared towards offering lower prices.

Vip is positioning itself as the best value for money provider in the country. There is nationwide availability of Vip’s services as a result of a roaming deal with T-Mobile.

Vip has not yet committed itself to bidding for a licence when the tender details for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) are published shortly. However, the company does not rule out the possibility of further co-operation with its rivals in respect of 3G technologies.