Aleksandar Nikoloski, the Minister of Transport and Communications, is known to be close to President Orban, therefore he has nothing against the Hungarian telecom operator “4iG” entering the Macedonian market. Nikoloski thinks that as long as the citizens pay less, it doesn’t matter who delivers the service.In response to a question from a journalist concerning the letter of intent that the operator “4iG” group from Hungary submitted to the government, Nikoloski stated that a strategic decision regarding the introduction of a third mobile operator or the reduction of rates for the two current operators will be made in the near future. However, he stressed, the reality is that the two operators now hold a duopoly, with the market optimally split 51:49 between the first and second operator.

The prices of services not only do not decrease but increase. There is no competition either in terms of offering better services or in terms of cheaper prices for citizens. We face problems every day because this duopoly exists whether it is the way in which base stations are set up, whether it is the services that are delivered to the citizens, the quality is not at the appropriate level, said Nikolovski, during the visit to Kavadarci.

The minister also said that “they are ready for an attack by the two operators, but also that they are several steps ahead of them and are well informed.”

When we entered this operation, we were aware that there would be a big attack from these two operators because it does not suit them to break the market and introduce competition, we are ready for that attack, but let me tell them that we are at least a few steps ahead of them because that we are much better informed than they are and we are aware that they will never come out publicly to attack this, but through certain media in which they have serious sponsorship and allocate a part of their budget through advertisements, they will open fictional topics of the type of I don’t know strategically positionings. I expect they will open something else now. But, as I said, we are always one step ahead of them because they “step on” and “suck” the citizens, and we want the citizens to have better quality for less money, said Nikoloski.

After meeting with the president of the Hungarian operator “4iG” group in Budapest earlier this month, Minister Nikoloski notified the Government on the sixth of this month’s month that a letter of intent had been received from the group.

In the nation’s mobile communications market, there are two mobile network operators, three virtual mobile operators, and one reseller operator. In the fourth quarters of 2020, 2021, and 2022, the retail market penetration level for mobile communication services was 89.68 percent, 93.83 percent, 105.23 percent, and 104.53 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2023.

In the third quarter of 2023, there were 2.074.021 active users registered on the mobile phone market. A1 Macedonia and Makedonski Telecom hold the largest shares of 47,62 and 47,24 percent, respectively, of this market.