Kosovo - growth of mobile

Ipko hits quarter million target

In the four months since it launched a GSM network in Kosovo, Telekom Slovenije-backed cellco Ipko claims to have sold 250,000 SIM cards. Ipko now operates over a network comprising 150 base stations with coverage of 76% of the population and 52% of the territory. By the end of 2008 the company hopes to have doubled the number of base stations and increased its customer base to 550,000. Within five years it expects to achieve a 50% market share with around a million subscribers. Ipko offers a variety of packages aimed at specific user groups, and claims to offer a number of innovative services, including a credit transfer option for pre-paid users, which allows subscribers to make calls even if there is not enough credit on the phone. Including the licence fee, Telekom Slovenije has invested over EUR100 million (USD158 million) in IPKO’s mobile network, approximately half the total planned spend.