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Serb telecom, providers feud over Internet telephony |
Belgrade, Oct. 16, 2002 - Serbia's telecoms monopoly, part owned by Telecom Italia and OTE of Greece, is embroiled in a row with Internet service providers who say the company is blocking the spread of badly needed new technology.
The providers are furious that Telekom Srbija cut off their access to high-speed ISDN lines in the summer and now plans to hike their rates for using landlines 20-fold, putting them on the same price level as companies who offer sex chat lines.
"Imagine what the price increase will do to developing IT in Serbia. It will affect the economy. Instead of computers, we can offer our children blackboards and chalk," said Vojislav Rodic, head of the Yugoslav association of Internet providers.
"The price increase for us will mean at least 40 percent higher Internet access rates for our clients," Rodic said.
Telekom says its actions are justified because some providers have begun offering cheap international phone services over the Internet, known as voice over Internet protocol (VOIP).
"Telekom will not allow VOIP. VOIP is illegal," Dragor Hiber, chairman of Telekom's board of directors, told Reuters.
Only a few of some 40 Serbian Internet providers moved into the service, which has grown popular among families and friends of millions of Serb expatriates. Some 300,000 young Serbs are believed to have fled Serbia during the Slobodan Milosevic era.
A cost of an outgoing VOIP call is around 20 U.S. cents per minute compared with $1.20 for a normal landline call. Serbia's average monthly wage is around $160. Telekom is 51 percent held by Serbia's state-owned Post Office. The rest belongs to Telecom Italia , in charge of international phone services, and Greece's OTE .
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