Republic of Serbia

A1 Serbia

The mobile market in Serbia was shaped by the strong demand for unlimited voice and SMS tariffs with flat data allowances, while the popularity of mobile Wi-Fi routers remained strong throughout the year. Total revenues increased by 9.7 %, attributable to higher mobile service revenues as a result of the growing contract subscriber base, which led to increased monthly fees, as well as to higher equipment revenues due to higher quantities sold. Interconnection revenues increased as a result of unlimited voice tariffs introduced by competitors and consequently higher traffic. Workforce costs grew due to the higher number of FTEs and higher bonuses. Altogether, EBITDA grew by 18.8 % while almost unchanged depreciation and amortization expenses compared to the previous year led to 86.0 % higher operating income.

With the introduction of a regional retail roaming agreement for the Western Balkan countries, roaming rates have been cut as of July 1, 2019, which negatively impacted revenues in Serbia and North Macedonia to a limited extent. Roaming rates are expected to be abolished entirely by July 1, 2021.