Mobile Phone Service Prices in Albania to Decrease
BalkanTravellers.com
The price drop was announced after a new mobile communications law was adopted in June, the Shekulli newspaper wrote.The Albanian market until now was characterised by record high mobile telephone service prices.
The market’s liberalisation is expected to gradually even out the prices in Albania with those of the European mobile phone operators, but this can take place only in 2009 when another 20 per cent drop will be introduced, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Council.
In addition, the sources from the Transportation and Telecommunications Ministry told media that a procedure is starting now for the introduction to the Albanian market of a fourth mobile operator.
The current three include Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC), Vodafone Albania and Eagle Mobile, a telecoms provider owned by a Turkish consortium, which has operated since March. In 2007, AMC and Vodafone were fined 3.76 million euro for overcharging consumers.
Read more about Albania on BalkanTravellers.com
Epicure
Balkans
Balkan Culinary Wars III: Other People’s Meatballs
Ćevapčići from Leskovac, köfte from İzmir or Bulgarian kebapche? Greek keftedes too, please!
Full Story
Curiosity Chest
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Controversial Church Relocated in Bosnia and Herzegovina
12 June 2009 | A Muslim-Orthodox rift in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has come to a peaceful, but controversial, end after an Islamic community paid to move an Orthodox church from the site of a mosque destroyed in the BiH conflict.
Full Story
Useful Reads
Balkans
Through Another Europe (2009) | Edited by Andrew Hammond
When Henry Blount journeyed through Bosnia in the 1630s, two things struck him: the purity of the water and the great height of the Bosnians, which, he noted, “made me suppose them the offspring of those old Germans noted by Tacitus and Caesar for their huge size.”
Full Story
Music
Serbia
Serbia: A Sizzling Summer of Music in Belgrade
4 May 2009 | The announcement that legends of rock U2 will be playing Zagreb this summer caused mass excitement; the Balkans now seem definitively on ‘the map’ of the biggest popular artists. As the weather warms up and the thoughts of all turn to enjoyment, cultural correspondent Milica Vuković from Balkanalysis.com, one of the leading independent news and analysis groups on the Balkans today, presents a rundown of the biggest musical events in Belgrade and details on how to find tickets to them.
Full Story
-
Photogalleries
-
A Perfect Shot
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
Travel News
1 July 2009 | Albanian writer Ismail Kadare was recently awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias literature prize, in recognition of the social commitment in his work.
Full Story