Emerging Markets: Internet market review – Former Yugoslavia 2008

Former Yugoslavia Internet market situation is significantly different depending on the country conforming the old-times country kown as Yugoslavia.

This is because of the geographical condition in these countries, as there’s an unequal spread in internet connection possibilities. It is very difficult in the mountain regions to even get access to a proper telephone line. In the urban areas internet is more common. Yet internet speeds that we have in some other European countries are unusual. You will be able to dial-up connections, with a maximum speed of 56 kb/s. Faster accesses can be got through ADSL connections with average costs starting on 15 euros per month for speeds of less than 1-2Mb.

Developing the communication infrastructure in these countries is very costly. Placing new DSL or cable technology to households requires high CAPEX investments. In countries that are still recovering of a civil wars, NATO bombing, or fraudious regimes, it is difficult to imagine new media technology to be a priority. It is therefore to be expected that private companies supply and empower urban areas with telecom investements. However reality disagrees.

We have been conducting a market assessment of the broadband businesses of these countries for a financial institution with some interest in the region. A high level summary of it can be shown in the next slide:

Room for improvement or opportunity? Clearly the second.

Best regards
CVA