At its 49th sitting held on October 1, 2019, the Committee on Spatial Planning, Transport, Infrastructure and Telecommunications of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia assessed the Report on Activities of the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL) for 2018.

The Activity Report was presented by dr Vladica Tintor, director of RATEL, who pointed out that in 2018 an income in the electronic communications market of 198.7 billion dinars was generated, which is a 3.9% increase compared to the previous year. The income from electronic communications in 2018 accounted for 3.9% of the GDP in Serbia. Like in previous years, the biggest share in the total income was generated through the provision of mobile telephony services, reaching 58.2% of the total income (115.6 billion dinars).

As for the postal services, their volume has been on the rise by 1%, second year in a row now. During 2018, on average 131 postal items were delivered per household, i.e. 45 items per inhabitant. The postal sector generated an income of approximately 20 billion dinars from postal services, accounting for approximately 0.4% of the projected GDP value. Despite having a dominant share (89.1%) in the total volume of provided postal services, universal service has generated less income than commercial services (over 55%). The income from universal service has increased by 3.3%, whereas the income from commercial services has been on a continuous rise, with the current rate reaching approximately 13%.

The total number of subscribers of media content distribution service reached 1.88 million in 2018 and grew by 10.6% compared to 2017, mostly due to the rise in the number of subscribers of media content distribution via cable distribution network. The total income from media content distribution service in 2018 reached 24.10 billion dinars, exceeding the previous year's amount by approximately 18%.

Setting out the results, dr Tintor highlighted that 15269 individual licenses for use of radio frequencies were issued, 6295 individual licenses for use of radio frequencies were revoked, and in November 2018, a first temporary license for use of radio frequencies for T-DAB radio broadcasting station was issued, marking the beginning of the test phase to introduce terrestrial digital audio radio broadcasting in Serbia.

Regarding customer complaints, another 885 files were formed, out of which 502 were positively resolved in customer's favor; 563 confirmations of radio equipment conformity were issued; 45 decisions on numbering assignment, renewal or revocation were reached; 8 new authorizations for the provision of postal services were issued; 6,444 measurement and monitoring entries were added in the database; 156 confirmations regarding entering or deleting the operators in/from the Registry; with finally 4 Special CERTs being listed in the records of Special CERTs. RATEL's Management Board passed seven Rulebooks.

All RATEL's human and technical resources have been directed toward activities of acquisition of the new monitoring and measurement center in Vojvodina and construction of the stations network for RF spectrum monitoring intended for 12 locations in the Republic of Serbia, establishment of an electronic system for radio stations license issuance, benchmarking of service quality parameters, setting up of a portal for the sensor network for continuous long-term monitoring of the electromagnetic field radiation generated by communications networks and equipment.

In conclusion to his Report for 2018, dr Vladica Tintor said that, throughout 2018, all RATEL's activities, as a NRA tasked in the field of electronic communications, postal services and inormation security, were focused on the maintenance of a competitive market environment, enhancement of telecom and postal operators' business activities in the respective markets, provision of better end-user protection levels, improvement of the quality of service and promotion of cyber security in the Republic of Serbia.

Following the discussion, pursuant to Article 237 of the National Assembly's Rules of Procedure, the Committe examined RATEL’s Activity Report for 2018 and made a Draft conclusion on adoption of the document, submitting it to further consideration and adoption by the National Assembly.

The meeting was chaired by the Committe Chair Katarina Rakić, and attended by members and deputy members of the Committee: Dalibor Radičević, Ognjen Pantović, Stefana Miladinović, Krsto Janjušević, Ivan Bauer, Milan Ljubić, Vladimir Orlić, Jovica Jevtić and Snežana B. Petrović.