Macedonian mobile start-up VIP Mobile, subsidiary of mobilkom austria group, signed up 163,300 subscribers by the end of March 2008, a market share of around 8 percent within just six months of launching commercial services in the country.
Macedonia’s third mobile operator is competing head-to-head with incumbent cellcos T-Mobile Macedonia and Cosmote-owned Cosmofon. VIP Mobile launched commercial operations in September 2007 via a national roaming deal with T-Mobile, marking the first new competition in the country since Cosmofon entered the fray in June 2003.
The start-up began offering flat-rate pre-paid plans through more than 2,000 retail outlets across the country. According to a financial statement published by the Austrian owner’s parent group Telekom Austria, VIP Mobile posted revenue of EUR 1.80 million (USD 2.78 million) in the first three months of this year, operating losses of EUR 6.9 million and net losses of EUR 6 million.
At the end of 2007 the Macedonian market had reached the following position:
Source: Industry data & estimates Ó 2008 Blycroft Ltd