Montenegro has made steady progress in
its ambition to join the EU, with negotiations on two of 12 areas having been
concluded by late 2014. As part of the EU pre-accession process, the country
has received financial aid to build public institutions and improve
cross-border co-operation under EU funding mechanism Instrument for
Pre-Accession Assistance. The telecom sector has also been aligned with €
norms, which has opened up the market to competition and guided the development
of elements such as access and tariff structures. Montenegro’s liberalised
telecom sector has been guided by legislation which adopts a range of
regulatory principles found in the EU’s regulatory framework for
communications. This was updated in 2010 with the revised regulatory framework.
Closer integration with the EU coincided
with a period of strong economic growth, with foreign direct investment focused
on the construction and finance sectors. However, the ongoing regional
financial crisis has significantly impacted Montenegro due to the contraction
in the real estate sector and lower demand for exports. Real GDP contracted in
2009 by 5.7%, and though it recovered to show 2.5% growth in both 2010 and 2011
continuing difficulties affecting some of its main trading partners resulted in
negative growth of 2.5% for 2012. Nevertheless, the economy recovered swiftly,
with GDP growth of 3.4% in 2013 and an anticipated 2.8% for 2014.
Fixed broadband services are available
via a variety of technology platforms including DSL, cable, leased line, fibre
and wireless. The fibre sector has shown particularly strong growth since 2010
as the incumbent has invested in infrastructure upgrades, albeit mainly to
serve apartment blocks in the main towns. DSL is also strong given the legacy
reach of the incumbent’s copper network, coupled with its existing market
presence and range of service offerings that include broadband TV.
Mobile penetration is among the highest
in Europe, though this is partly due to the significant number of tourists
visiting the country seasonally, as also the preponderance of popular prepaid
cards Networks based on WCDMA/HSPA and LTE technologies have been launched.
This has formed the basis for new and expanding mobile broadband services.
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